Getting excited
Some say that the best thing about magazines
is creating them; others hope that their publication will endure to be the decade’s big success.
The fact is, there are more magazines launched
in recent years then ever before. Many of the
new titles - “the style press” (Angelo Cirimele)
are a response to “mainstream disappointment”
(Jeremy Leslie). Because of this, they are “getting better and bigger” (Samir Husni). Yes, it is
possible that “paper will be the preserve of the
boutique magazines” (David Renard). But as long
as some readers “buy one or two meters of books
and magazines per week” (Horst Moser) the
menace of “the end of print” still seems far away.
Lucky us.
For Nico’s “issue one”, Madrid based writer
Andrew Losowsky spoke to five of the world’s
leading experts on magazine culture and industry: Angelo Cirimele (Paris), Samir Husni (Mississippi), Jeremy Leslie (London), Horst Moser
(Munich) and David Renard (New York).
Andrew is part of Nico’s international collective
of journalists, photographers, stylists and illustrators – a dedicated and ambitious team, both
inspired and inspiring. As an independent publishing group based in Luxembourg (one of Europe’s
smallest countries) it was only natural that we
should look outwards for collaborations and provide our readers with thoughts and talents from
around the globe.
Besides the “cultural phenomenon” of magazines, you’ll find honest interviews on product

design (5.5 Designers by Merel Kokhuis), the
economics of the art and museum business (Judith
Benhamou by Angelina A. Rafii), unique fashion
journalism (Diane Pernet by Catherine Callico),
a creative management agency (Dutch Uncle by
Mike Koedinger), character art (Pictoplasma by
Lars Harmsen) and a fashion event cum family
gathering (Jean-Pierre Blanc by Justin Morin).
The second part of the magazine is a veritable
playground for photographers and stylists. Nico
has commissioned fashion shootings worldwide
and is proud to present exclusively the works of
Claudio Edinger (Sao Paulo), Amber Gray (New
York), Anoush Abrar and Aimée Hoving (Switzerland), Serkan Emiroglu (Paris), Lyn Balzer
and Tony Perkins (Sidney), Zoren Gold & Minori
(Tokyo), Gaëtan Caputo (Brussels) and :mentalKLINIK (Istanbul).
The result is a 252-page magazine that will be
distributed all over Europe and exported to Australia, South Africa, USA, Tokyo and Hong Kong.
At the end, we don’t know if creating a magazine is the best part of the story, or if one should
aim to launch one of the decade’s big successes.
The reason why we’ve created this bi-annual is
simple: we deeply love magazines. We still get
excited discovering new titles, flipping through
their endless pages and reading the features. This
is our contribution to your excitement. Enjoy!
Mike Koedinger
Publisher

Angelina A. Rafii
Fashion Editor

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annonce_Nico.ai

4/4/07

9:15:54 AM

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REGISTRATION

OPEN NOW!
Deadline for entries 31 August 2007

CMY

K

INTERNATIONAL MUSEUM COMMUNICATION AWARDS
(IMCA) - FOR THE BEST IN VISUAL COMMUNICATION
FOR MUSEUMS, ART INSTITUTIONS AND GALLERIES BRUSSELS, NOVEMBER 29 2007
These are the first communication awards for museums, art institutions and galleries, organised by IMCA in partnership with The
Art Newspaper, Agenda and Bizart. Entry is open to all non-commercial, non-profit museums, art institutions and galleries. Private
museums and foundations can also participate. Biennales and art centres which do not have a permanent collection may also
enter. Commercial organisations and art fairs, and commercial galleries cannot participate. Advertising and design agencies can
only enter under the name of the museum or institution with whom they have worked. The awards will be presented in Brussels
on 29 November 2007. The President of the IMCA-Awards is Damien Whitmore, Director of Programming at the Victoria and
Albert Museum in London.
The IMCA-Awards will recognise the best in design and communication in 4 categories:
Corporate Design, Exhibition Campaign, Integration and Innovation.

Lyn Balzer & Tony Perkens
Photographic duo, Lyn Balzer & Tony
Perkins, rely on a 12 year collaboration.
They are regularly featured in Australian
and international fashion and photography publications as well as exhibitions around the world. Their true
passion for the female form and the
Australian landscape was explored in
the exclusive shooting for Nico: “Nature,
to be commanded, must be obeyed”.
www.lynandtony.com
Catherine Callico
Catherine Callico lives in Brussels where
she has been working as a freelance
journalist. Published in the European and
Belgian press for a decade, she predominantly focuses on design, fashion and
arts. For Nico she interviewed Diane
Pernet and gave us “A glance at fashion”.

Anoush Abrar & AimEe Hoving
Anoush from Iran and Aimée a Dutch
national started working together as a
team in 2004 after finishing art school.
The Swiss residents’ work has been exposed in several museums and galleries,
including: Musée de l’Elysée, in Switzerland, Harold’s Gallery, in LA and Maison
Européenne de la Photographie, in Paris.
Presented in several photo competitions
such as: Festival des Arts de la Mode et
de la Photographie, in Hyères, 2003,
Art + Commerce 2004 Festival of Emerging Photographers and ReGeneration,
50 Photographers of Tomorrow, 20052025, their photographs have also been
featured in W magazine, French and
Japanese Vogue, Vogue Hommes International, L’Officiel, Slash Magazine,
New York Magazine, Tokion Magazine,
Colors, Libération, Frame Magazine,
Die Weltwoche, Das Magazin, Frog, and
Bolero. For Nico the talented duo shared
their beautiful photographic vision
in “Cosmic”.
www.anoush.ch
ValErie Archeno
A photographer based in Paris, Valérie,
has worked with Mademoiselle, Dealer
de luxe and Upstreet and has produced
numerous CD covers. She likes to create
special atmospheres for fashion or
photo exhibitions. For Nico, Valérie shot
Jean-Pierre Blanc’s portrait.

20

GaEtan Caputo
There are some photographers who are
artists above all. Their work transcends
time, fashion or trends, yet is an inherent part of it, Gaëtan Caputo is one of
those photographers. In his shooting
for Nico, “Sweet Dreams”, he reveals a
dreamy atmosphere and a playful world
for shoes. He is based in Brussels.
www.gaetan-caputo.com
docu:mentalKLINIK
is a form of documentation seeking to
explore, point out, and remind one of
certain concepts and contexts pertaining
to emotions and behaviours, form and
content, culture and identity. docu:
mentalKLINIK can locate itself in and can
take its viewpoint on a journey in magazines, web sites, CDs, publications, newspapers, etc. For Nico, the Istanbul based
creative team shaped a unique point of
view on fashion in “Enjoy the Silence”.
docu:mentalKLINIK and semi:mentalKLINIK are sub-headings of :mentalKLINIK. Its members are Yasemin Baydar,
Birol Demir and Ayse Draz
www.documentalklinik.com.
Rie Edamitsu
Rie started working as a freelance stylist
in 2001 focusing mainly on advertising,
fashion, and music. She also likes making
custom made accessories and small
props for photo shoots. Nico used her
styling talents in “Belle de Jour”.
Claudio Edinger
Born in the great Rio de Janeiro in 1952,
Claudio Edinger’s photographs have
appeared in major magazines around
the world, including Stern, The New York
Times, London Sunday Times, Vanity Fair,
Frankfurter Allgemeine,
El País, Time, Paris Match, Newsweek and

many more. His work has been exhibited at the ICP New York, the Pompidou
Center, France, Photographer’s Gallery,
England, Perpignan Photo Fest, France,
Higashikawa Photo Fest, Japan, Museu
de Arte de São Paulo, Museu de Imagem
e do Som, Museu de Arte Moderna
de São Paulo, among others. Twice he’s
been awarded the Leica Medal of
Excellence, The Ernst Hass Award,
Pictures of the Year Award (1996) and
the Higashikawa Award in 1999 for
foreign photographer of the year,
among other honors. His work
is in the collection of the International
Center of Photography, Museu de Arte
de São Paulo, Centro Cultural Banco
do Brasil, Itau Cultural, Pirelli Collection,
Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo,
Higashikawa Photo Fest, Metronom
Barcelona, among many others. He lives
in São Paulo, Brazil. Nico is very proud to
present Claudio Edinger’s first fashion
shoot which he produced exclusively
for our magazine, “Girls of Ipanema”.
www.claudioedinger.com
Ahmet Elhan
Ahmet is a graphic design graduate from
the Istanbul Practical Fine Arts College.
He has participated in many group and
solo exhibitions and has won seven
awards. He works in Istanbul as a multivision designer, photographer, and director
of advertising films. For Nico he put his
many talents to use to realize an unusual
fashion shoot: “Enjoy the Silence”.
Serkan Emiroglu
Serkan Emiroglu is a Paris based photographer. His editorials have been published in Marie-Claire, Ikidebir, Harper’s
Bazaar, Nico and Arena and he is an
award winner of this year’s PDN 30.
Serkan’s unique vision was brought into
play in “Suicide Blond”, a shooting for Nico.
www.serkan.co.uk
SEbastien Goepfert
Sébastien’s passion for fashion and
decoration drew him to Paris a few
years ago, where he started working
in collaboration with various famous
photographers in ads and magazines
such as Lodown, Celeste, Harper’s Bazaar,
Soon… A self-taught talent, Sébastien
hides behind no defined style, but as in
his work for Nico’s “Suicide Blond”,
defines styles as being multiple.
Joanna GRODECKI
Freshly graduated in visual communication, Joanna is now working in the fields
of editorial design and illustration
in Luxembourg. For Nico she’s created
the collage featuring our favourite
items for spring/summer 07.

>>.flyBBB.com
>>ONE NUMBER FOR YOUR
VISIT TO BBBARCELONA
-------------------->>CALL: +49-(0)30-2000370
OR GO TO www.flyBBB.com

Christina K
Christina is a London based illustrator
and screen printer renowned for her
unique depictions of contemporary
culture which sit at the forefront of the
London art movement. Her illustrations
have been snapped up by international
record labels, magazines, fashion
houses, and TV companies. Christina
also produces screen prints which have
been exhibited in spaces around London. She created Nico’s dreamy cover.

Zoren Gold & Minori
The Tokyo based photography and art
duo Zoren Gold & Minori began their
creative partnership in 2000. Their
shared interest in blurring the boundaries of photography has led them to
experiment with photography in combination with different mediums. Their
first book Object that dreams has been
released by Die Gestalten. For Nico they
realized their voyeuristic view on fashion
in “Belle de Jour”.
www.mi-zo.com
Amber Gray
Born and raised in the doldrums of
suburban northern California, Amber
Gray decided to start creating her own
version of reality through her photography. Focusing on surreal scenarios of
dark romance, Amber shifted her attention to the world of fashion and beauty.
She is now based in New York City, where
she lives with her multitalented boyfriend Julian, and their devil-dog, Ivan.
With “The Bubbles of Love” she let Nico
exclusively peak into her surreal world.
www.ambergrayphotography.com
Lars Harmsen
Lars Harmsen, CEO at Finest/Magma
Design & Communication in Karlsruhe,
focuses on creative direction in the field
of corporate and editorial design.
He founded the font label Volcano Type
with Ulrich Weiss in 1996. In 2004 he
created the web-blog Slanted. Lars is
also an active member of Starshot in
Munich, where he edits the biannual
catalogue Useless, an independent sport
and lifestyle magazine. Nico used his
interviewing skills for “Figures with
plenty of Character”.
www.slanted.de

05_contributors3.indd 22

Merel Kokhuis
Merel studied Interior Styling and
Media & Information Management in
Amsterdam. She graduated as editor/
production manager and is now working for Frame magazine. For Nico she
put her design knowledge into practice
by interviewing 5.5 designers.
www.framemag.com
David Laurent
David Laurent’s roots go back to publishing. Presently, his work is focused on
editorials, advertising and fashion. In
2006, he created 52drive in Luxembourg, a company, specialized in developing photographic solutions for
clients. For this issue, Nico asked him to
shoot the portrait of Judith Benhamou.
www.52drive.lu
Andres Lejona
This self-taught photographer has lived
in Spain, Luxembourg, Colombia and
Portugal. His interests span through
documentary photography, portraits and
editorials. Andres is currently preparing
projects and exhibitions in portrait and
architectural photography. His work has
been exhibited in Museo de Arte Moderno de Cartagena and Museo de Arte
Moderno de Bogotà, Colombia, and in
the Grande Halle de la Villette in Paris.
He currently lives and works in Luxembourg. For Nico he shot portraits of the
five leading magazine experts.
Kimberly Lloyd
Kimberly Lloyd, founder of Lloyd &
Associates, publishes Qompendium and
M Publication a magazine that has won
numerous awards for its distinguished
use of design, typography and innovation in printing and finishing techniques.
Kimberly splits her work between
Germany and the USA. Recently she
received the title of “Visual Leader of
the year 2006”. She used her creative
vision to produce “Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed” for Nico.

Andrew Losowsky
Andrew Losowsky is the editor of the
book We Love Magazines, and co-curator
of Colophon2007, an international
event for magazines from around
the world. He is also editorial director
of Le Cool Publishing, and author of
The Doorbells of Florence. He lives in
Spain. For Nico Andrew interviewed
five leading magazine experts.
Thomas Mailaender
Thomas Mailaender splits his time
between Paris and Marseille. Documentation marks the starting point for his work.
Using a slightly scientific way of working,
he registers insignificant, incidentally
grotesque moments that possess an
abrupt and unexpected monumentality.
For Nico, 5.5 designers clearly relied on
their long term collaboration with
Thomas to shoot their clever portrait.
www.thomasmailaender.com
Justin Morin
When he is not busy preparing an
exhibition, Justin dedicates his time
to writing. That’s why he jumped at
the opportunity given to him by Nico
to conceive a piece on Jean-Pierre Blanc.
“Jean-Pierre is the first person who gave
me the chance to showcase my work in
embroidery, so I am really happy to
reconnect with him for this interview!”
Justin lives in France.
www.medica-menteuse.com
Elena Rendina
Born 22 years ago in Italy, Elena decided
to move to Lausanne, where she has
remained, to study photography.
Fashion and style have always played
an important part in her photographic
world but are not limited to it. Elena
loves to turn everything she finds into
something wearable, for her styling
work in Nico’s “Cosmic” shoot she was
able to do just that.
Estelle Sidoni
Estelle Sidoni is a young illustrator who
has her particular universe, with an
affinity for story telling. For the project
that Nico gave her, she let her fantasies
and imagination run free in “The Power of
Art”. She was first published in Luxembourg’s city guide Explorator in 2006.
estelle.sidoni@wanadoo.fr

Family Gathering
Jean-Pierre Blanc has succeeded in putting
Hyères, a small town in the south of France,
on the map of “Planet Fashion”. The director
of the Villa Noailles is the man behind
the remarkable Festival International de Mode et de
Photographie. Twenty years of experience and
a lively curiosity have forged him a critical
and reflexive eye in a milieu which, in the
space of two decades, has undergone numerous upheavals. Let’s meet the celebrated
Monsieur Blanc.

Remerciements à Bless Paris.

Interview by Justin Morin. Photography by Valérie Archeno.

Something which has become a bit of an annual
tradition well-loved by the regulars is the story
of Jean-Pierre Blanc. At the end of the festival,
Léopold Ritondale, the mayor of Hyères, tells
those assembled about the young man who, when
he was in his twenties in 1986, came to see him
with the idea of creating a venue for the exchange
of ideas so as to help designers who were just
starting out. In an unassuming and independent
manner this man, together with a team of faithful
collaborators, was able to make his dream a reality.
He built this festival with flair and determination;
a fresh fashion event squeezed into three days and
a far cry from the elitism found in Paris.
Twenty years after the first edition, the list of
personalities who have supported the Festival
International de Mode et de Photographie (International Festival of Fashion and Photography) – its
name is constantly being changed – is impressive.
Ann Demeulemeester, Jean-Paul Gaultier, JeanCharles de Castelbajac, John Galliano, Helmut
Lang, Karl Lagerfeld, Hussein Chalayan as well
as Nicolas Ghesquières have judged the work
of around 250 designers. Amongst the awardwinners, Viktor and Rolf, Sébastien Meunier,

Alexandre Matthieu, Marc Le Bihan, Xavier
Delcour, and many others have preceded Anthony
Vaccarello, the main winner of the 2006 edition.
This name dropping may be impressive, but JeanPierre Blanc is the first to admit that it started
out less spectacularly: “The first ten years can’t be
compared to the next ten. Our first catwalks were very
amateurish, whereas now we are working with people
such as Frédéric Sanchez for the music and Thierry
Dreyfus for lighting, two people who are used to international podiums. For me, the festival really became
interesting from the moment when the students of
La Cambre, a school in Brussels, began to take part.
It was through the Canette d’Or, a Belgian competition that no longer exists but which established many
designers who are recognised today, that we received
our first international designers. With the arrival of
the Belgians, the Festival managed to avoid becoming
an outlandish Mediterranean event.
At the time, in France, an enthusiasm reigned
which favoured this type of initiative. Things are
different today. The participants’ expectations have
changed. The festival acts like a sort of platform; it’s
become a real occasion for the designers and companies
to meet. The quality of work of our award-winners has
awakened the interest of new partners. An example
worth noting is the 1,2,3 channel, which we are hoping to enlist to produce and advertise a mini-collection
for one of our award-winners. It’s an opportunity for
them to learn what the market is really about. Let’s
add that since 1996, photography has naturally found
its place alongside fashion design. This has allowed us
to build some proper links between the different players
in the industry. Because that’s what it’s really all about.
Fashion, beyond its glamorous capital, is an organised
and stratified sector. It is, above all else, factories, style
agencies, federations, buyers (for multi-brand shops),
journalists, and agents. Very specific roles that we find
notably among the members of our juries. It’s difficult
for young graduates to enter into the network and to
meet these people; the festival plays the role of an intermediary.”
The frontiers of planet Fashion
La Cambre might have made its mark on festival-goers and continues to swipe the prizes, but
it’s not the only school that knows how to win.
In 1993, the now famous duo Viktor & Rolf,
from the Arnhem Academy, made an impression at the Festival. Then followed a period of
five years dominated by Dutch trend-setters.

N

07_itv jp blanc.indd 29

29

06.04.2007 14:37:00 Uhr

However, certain important schools seemed to
shirk the opportunities the festival could offer. “I
don’t know how to explain it, but it’s true that certain
schools play the game while others don’t. Let’s take the
example of Belgium. La Cambre is very often represented, but it’s worth knowing that the body of teachers encourage their students to compete. We only have
very few candidates from the academy in Antwerp, the
other pool of Belgian talent, and more often than not
they are very spontaneous, and their presence emanates directly from the students’ own initiative. But
things are changing. Especially thanks to the abolition
of geographical borders due to the internet. This year,
we have received applications from Spain, Greece, and
even Austria. These new candidates stem from schools
which are less prestigious than the famous Parsons
(New York), Bunka (Tokyo), Saint Martins (London)
or the more discrete Marangoni (Milan) or the University of Applied Arts in Vienna (where of note, the
duo Wendy and Jim teach), but they also enjoy a very
good reputation. We should bear in mind that each of
these institutions promotes its students through the

Teaching fashion design in a country
like England or Belgium is integrated
into fine arts type school. Students are led
to explore other sectors of creation.

A preview in images from the world’s
leading fashion design schools and
the emerging talents of tomorrow.
For contact information of the

individual designers please refer
to the Links page (249)

30

year-end catwalk show. Not only is it a marvellous tool
for communication with the public, but it’s also a professional meeting to which head-hunters are invited.
These last, being fairly limited in numbers, are very
much in demand. It’s almost impossible for them to
go to all of the schools’ catwalk shows. If our festival
has existed for so many years, it’s no doubt because it is
available for all the designers to see.”
Is France a naughty pupil?
As he lists the different schools, Jean-Pierre
Blanc doesn’t slip a single word in about the
French case. Is this a purposeful omission? “There
are many schools in France, but I think that we can
really do better. Teaching fashion design in a country
like England or Belgium is integrated into fine arts
type schools. Students are led to explore other sectors
of creation, or at least, to interact with other people.
It’s not a closed circuit. It’s a richer strategy which has
proved itself. What people object to about us, perhaps
the most, is the decorative arts section which has selected
Gaspard Yurkievich to teach the subject of fashion. And
finally, we should also salute the Institut Français de la
Mode – run by Francine Pairon, the same person who
launched the La Cambre fashion workshop – even if it
does concern post-diploma training. Today, solid training should not only bring out the students’ creativity,
but also prepare them for the economic reality of fashion. How to work with industrialists, how to manage
the distribution of your collections, how to communicate about your image… Many schools require their
students to carry out some sort of training during their
course; it’s a good way for them to get a taste of the real
world. But coming back to France, its real problem is
that it doesn’t know where to class fashion. Should it
be affiliated to the Ministry of Culture or to that of
Industry? The fashion landscape has changed. Our
country is lucky enough to have a rich past, but it’s this
same past which handicaps it. Anyway, nowadays it is
becoming incongruous to think of fashion in terms of
the nation. The big French fashion houses of Givenchy
or Dior have had the cobwebs blown away by Italian
(Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy) and English (John
Galliano for Dior) designers. There are really only
Italian labels like Versace or Prada, ‘family’ enterprises, which remain within this national logic.”
The global system of luxury
If you ask any design student, the large majority of them are hoping to enter a fashion house
rather than release their own label. There are a
few winning combinations such as Hedi Slimane
+ Dior or Nicolas Ghesquières + Balenciaga.
Independent designers, whether Japanese or
Belgian, inspire respect but are not often what
dreams are made of. It should be mentioned that
nowadays you need solid economic capital just as

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06.04.2007 14:37:01 Uhr

Central St. Martins College of Art
and Design, London
clockwise:

SEON JU KAM, TATIANA KATINOVA,

shemena kemali, TATIANA KATINOVA
A preview in images from the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
leading fashion design schools and
the emerging talents of tomorrow.
For contact information of the

individual designers please refer to

the fashion stockist pages (248 & 249)

07_itv jp blanc.indd 31

06.04.2007 14:37:30 Uhr

much as a good dose of recklessness to launch
such a venture. At the end of the 80s, after the
French designers such as Thierry Mugler and
Claude Montana, came the Belgians, the famous
band of six from Antwerp (Ann Demeulemeester,
Dries Van Noten, Marina Yee, Dirk Bikkembergs, Dirk Van Saene and Walter Van Beirendock) and the conceptual and poetic Japanese
(Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garçons, Issey
Miyake as well as Yohji Yamamoto). At the end
of the 90s, “virtual” fashion – fashion created
from strong images difficult to reproduce in
the shops like that of Viktor & Rolf or Jeremy
Scott – experienced their final moments of glory.
The economic upheavals of September 11 spared
nobody, and fashion designers had to face the
crisis. Alliances with the big luxury groups, purposefully aggressive marketing, a multiplication
of licences: this became the development strategy

which until then had remained “semi-handmade”.
Now it wasn’t leaving any margin of error. The
big luxury brands tend to leave little space for
the smaller labels. Talent is no longer enough to
make yourself a name. Jean-Pierre Blanc qualifies
this, and explains, “there do exist, however, alternative networks promoted through the media, especially
in England, but in these cases expansion is uncertain.
To understand it, you only have to look at headlines in
the press of the country concerned. ID or Dazed &
Confused fill their pages with names that we hardly
know in France. Here, we have Numéro or Vogue,
two magazines which essentially communicate about
our established values. That said, France has other
advantages. Notably, young houses are given opportunities through mixing with their elders during the
catwalk shows of Fashion Week.”
If you look at the history of fashion you can see
that a new trend emerges every ten years. Designers

Perhaps Hyères is so successful because
it gives us the impression that we too belong
to the big family that is fashion.

32

are subjected to the natural cycle of life and death.
Some of them just fade away; others establish themselves and continue along their path. The next revolution will surely come from somebody who will
navigate their fashion against the current.
A different way of looking at fashion
Every year, the Hyères Festival organises
round tables on dilemmas which design is confronted with, its inherent commercial reality and
industrial constraints. It’s one method of thinking
in concrete terms about the future of an industry
assailed by counterfeiting, and also the lassitude
of consumers. “Actions should be devised so that the
system can work differently” concludes Jean-Pierre
Blanc. “I don’t understand why such talented people as
Martine Sitbon or Jean Colonna today find themselves
at a dead-end. Fashion sucks the blood out of creation;
it’s a very tough system which claims a lot of fresh
meat. Moreover, the very expression ‘young creation’
shows it well. It’s a term which doesn’t really make
sense; we’d do better not to use it any more.”
Hyères 2007
It would be unforgivable to talk about the
Festival without a mention of the sumptuous
Villa Noailles where it has been held since its
renovation. You really have to admit that the para­
disiacal venue of the cubist building by Robert
Mallet-Stevens, cradled by the heat of the Mediterranean, is like a magnet for the main players
on the fashion scene, who are usually trapped in
the grey of Paris. The highly prized parties, notably the final event, are a cocktail of arty chic and
charm, worthy of the Villa’s history.
The Festival is a little pre-taster of the holidays,
with the perfect artistic excuse, as the numerous
exhibitions taking place here show. This year, the
guests of honour are Mr Jean-Paul Goude for
the photography and Mr Christian Lacroix for
fashion. Lacroix called on the protean choreographer Christian Rizzo and designer David Dubois
to present his fashion. Another guest designer
Christian Wijnants, award-winner of the Festival
in 2001, is returning to show us how his work has
evolved. It’s a charming tradition that Jean-Pierre
Blanc and his team have instituted: festival-goers
are often brought news about former champions.
“One year after his plebiscite, Anthony Vaccarello finished his journey at La Cambre, and left for Rome
to collaborate with Fendi. He will return this year to
show us the research that he has undertaken with fur.”
Finally, the Hyères Festival International de Mode
et de Photographie goes further than simply arou­
sing curiosity; perhaps it is so successful because
it gives us the impression that we too belong to
the big family that is fashion.

N

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Istituto Marangoni, Milan
clockwise:

admir batlak, armando costa,
giulia bedoni, giulia bedoni

07_itv jp blanc.indd 33

06.04.2007 14:38:01 Uhr

Royal College of Art, London
Hai Yan Wang

34

N

07_itv jp blanc.indd 34

06.04.2007 14:38:10 Uhr

Parsons The New School
for design, NYC

clockwise: mutrok and Garth,

Photos: Dan Lecca

dennett, Peter Sohn, Lu Liu

07_itv jp blanc.indd 35

06.04.2007 14:38:51 Uhr

Ecole Nationale Superieure

des arts visuels de La Cambre, Brussels
Anthony Vaccarello

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Institut Franรงais de la Mode, Paris
clockwise: Alexandre Blanc,

Anna-Liza Ganguly, Wowo Kraus,
Sophie Dulaurent

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ArtEZ Academie voor beeldende
kunsten, Arnhem

clockwise: Eefje Frankenhuis,

Photos: Louise te Poele

Inge Konijn, Rob Velker, Lenn Cox

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Universitaet fuer angewandte Kunst
Wien, vienna
Ajla Karic

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Koninklijke Academie voor Schone
Kunsten, Antwerp
Peter Bertsch

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Koninklijke Academie voor Schone
Kunsten, Antwerp
Demna Gvasalia

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Gary Baseman

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Figures with
plenty of character
Character design is becoming more and more
important in the form of figures, for advertising
purposes, in street art or even as toys and
costumes. It is not just the possibilities for
media that are interesting, but also the very
basis of the characters, their inherent life-like
quality, that is so fascinating. The Pictoplasma
conference has established itself as a renowned
and popular platform for character design
professionals. We spoke with Lars Denicke
of Pictoplasma, Berlin, about the trendy and
outlandish figures.
Interview by Lars Harmsen. Photography by Andres Lejona.

Lars Denicke studied cultural sciences, with
a major in media, at the University of Berlin.
In 2003 he teamed up with Peter Thaler, who
three years earlier had founded Pictoplasma.
Thaler was an animation film draughtsman
who wanted to know “what was happening out
there”. He thought there must be more than
Brösel, Mickey Mouse and the Michelin Man.
He founded a website initially as a collection
of characters and artists. Today, the site’s
archive comprises over 6,500 contemporary
character designs from over 1,000 artists,
designers and companies around the world.
Its catalogue permits a range of search functions, cross-referencing and comparisons etc.
As a result, the first book, published by
Gestalten in Berlin, appeared in 2001. But
the duo’s idea of to hold a conference where

artists could gather and meet, proved to be
even more popular than a publication. The
first Pictoplasma took place in Berlin in 2004.
Over 60 percent of the participating artists
and visitors arrived from abroad for this celebration of character design. The conference
was repeated in 2006 and the next rendezvous is provisionally scheduled for 2008.
The list of speakers at the first two conferences
was quite similar (e.g. Rinzen, Friends With
You, Gary Baseman, Doma Collective). How is
the selection process carried out?
Since the 2004 conference, a sort of family of
designers and artists has emerged. Pictoplasma
2006 was a happy reunion. A Revisiting Friends
section allowed everyone to deliver a brief update
of what they had been up to during the past two
years. In addition, it made the experience easier
for new speakers, given that everyone introduced
someone else.
Let us first talk about character design. What
differentiates them from designer toys?
Designer toys – that is, figures created by
artists in vinyl – are simply one production aspect
of character design. Personally, I am not a fan of
designer toys. Maybe it is the material, which is
primarily plastic. These figures are made for glass
showcases, they are cold and do not display so
many emotions. Even if I don’t play with characters, their expression and tactility have a foundation in something living; in other words they
have character. You could even call it an almost
romantic look. Designer toys simply represent a
manifestation, so they possess a certain sculptural
quality. Characters, on the other hand, have many
faces. They can express emotions and posture.
The faces of characters differentiate from those
of people in film, in that they are static, abstract
and reduced.
Character design is based on a whole range of
influences. Obviously, comic figures were a great
model, but so were the mascots of the burgeoning
advertising industry in the 1930s and 40s in the
USA. However, figures such as Donald Duck or

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Clockwise: Shoboshobo, Akinori Oishi,
Dennis Tyfus, Ana Bagayan

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Mickey Mouse always had background narratives.
This is not the case of characters. Of course, a
figure like Hello Kitty fulfils commercial requirements and can easily be marketed on purses, bags,
t-shirts etc., even though there is no evident story
or narrative.
How have characters developed over the last
20 years? Is character design something new, or
is it simply an old-hat that has been redefined?
We really only deal with contemporary Character Design. The growth of network communications has clearly played a major role in this.
Characters have become a means of communicating beyond language barriers on the Internet.
Now, image creation has taken a bit of a u-turn;
that is to say from the shaping as a two-dimensional picture back to the reality of a three-dimensional figure. How do you see this interchange?
Characters are not simply one-off things and
should not be compared to advertising mascots.
They have a life of their own, with their own
character. They are independent and essential.
The question of whether a figure speaks to us is
decisive. Boris Hoppekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Bimbos, for example, are
wonderfully humorous.
Image anthropology theory suggests that image
derives from the sight of a corpse. Pictures of
dead bodies inspired image production, first as
dolls, then as a painted picture; almost in an
attempt to bring the dead back to life. If we transpose this idea to characters, then one can argue
that two-dimensional figures are brought to life
when they are transferred to three-dimensional
figures. They are reduced to a form that represents contact, mostly by means of staring at the
observer.
At the last Pictoplasma conference, we even took
this concept to another level, by suggesting that
figures are shells, costumes that humans can slip
into. It is clear however, that the possibilities for
creation are limited. The material used has simply too many irregularities that are not as easily
controlled as the smooth images on a computer
screen or in print. But this also provides us with a
great challenge.

handicaps, namely the narrative and the exploitation. That means we can create a figure without
having to think of a story right from the start.
Figures are also independent of any utilisation.
Whether a figure is well-known or can be used
as a mascot depends entirely on whether it speaks
to us.
Often the boundaries are blurred. Miss Van could
be described as a street-artist, even though her
figures really are characters. Is that right?
Many character designers do, indeed, come
from the street-art scene. And many return to
that field without any problem. Street-art is, for
us, simply another area that characters can infiltrate and in which they can develop. But pictoplasma is not a street-art project. Street-art
themes such as the appropriation of public spaces
or the codifying of respect do not really interest
us. They have already been done to death.

What can be described as avant-garde character
design these days?
Everyone who comes to Pictoplasma... Akinori
Oishi (Japan) for his playful simplicity, Jerry
Dower (Australia) for his fantastical beings,
Ana Bagayan (USA) for her fantasy worlds,
Motomichi Nakamura (Japan) for his excesses in
black-white-red, and then we have the masters
of line drawing Shoboshobo (France), Dennis
Tyfus (Belgium) and Ian Stevenson (UK). And of
course, Boris Hoppek. He is somebody whose
work one could say operates at the very edge of
dilettantism. He really botches things together,
sticking bits of paper on cardboard - at first it all
looks really terrible, but eventually he creates a
superb robot. His work is a mix of perfection
and chaos.
Many character designers do not live in central
Europe â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Tim Biskup, Gary Baseman, Friends

Characters have become a means
of communication beyhond
language barriers on the internet.

The Michelin Man distinguishes itself from the
HB Man [German cigarette mascot] in that it is
unhindered by a story, and yet still has a life of
its own. How important, or unimportant, is
the history, or the narrative, that is linked to a Friends with you
character?
The story is irrelevant, even if there are examples in which stories have been developed.
Pictoplasma liberates its characters from two

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Tim Biskup

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With You (USA), Doma Collective (Argentina),
Nathan Jurevicius, Rinzen (Australia), Furi Furi
(Tokyo). Is there simply a lack of fertile ground in
Germany for such designers? Apart from eBoy,
what worthy names are there in Germany?
Well, Boris Hoppek, whom we have mentioned, comes from Germany, too. But it is true
that there are few who stand out from the crowd;
Stefan Marx, Moki, Juju’s Delivery or Kathi
Käppel all do great work. In the rest of Europe
there are some others worth mentioning, such as
Shoboshobo, Dennis Tyfus and Ian Stevenson
as well as Jon Burgerman (UK) or Doudouboy
(France), just to name a few. The work of these
artists is distinguished by its very wilful style.
The first few all draw with pen, in a very free
style, whereas Doudouboy creates simply amazing 3D figures.
Characters are very popular in Taiwan. They are
even used in elections and defeat or victory can
often depend on characters. How can that be?
In Asia, painting has historically been very flat.
Just think of Japanese landscapes. They work very
differently with perspective and body. Everything
looks as though it has been cut out. It was only
under the influence of the Americans, during and
above all after the Second World War, that it
became spacious and therefore three-dimensional. The trauma of Hiroshima led to figures
like Godzilla, born out of the post-atomic world
as “revenge” and “response” to the atom bomb.
Asia strongly rejected the pop culture invasion,
which manifested itself in flat space. But I cannot
really answer the question as to why these figures
became such a strong symbol of identity that can
even work in politics. That is a cultural context
that I do not have.

selling-out? Do Character Designers lose their
credibility through such liaisons between industry and underground?
From my perspective, this was a big challenge
for Boris Hoppek as well. He really put his characters on the line. Can they survive this kind of
commercial marketing? Initially, I was fairly irritated, too. But the passage of time has allowed me
to appreciate his combining art and commerce.
There is, after all, still something subversive
about it. There are people who have allowed
themselves to be photographed in front of Opel
showrooms, not because they like the cars but
because of the Bimbos.
Pictoplasma itself has created a connection
with industry via the Nike Spirit Room (Wayne
Horse / Airmax sneaker). How did that project
come about, and what were its results?
Nike wanted to support Pictoplasma and offered
us the opportunity to present them with one
artist. What was surprising about the project was

Tim Biskup’s character Helper
is a means of representing various themes
such as loneliness, disorientation,
and even terrorism or US history.

Character design flirts with art. They are often
personal statements. Real artistic standards are
rarely called upon. How strong are the artistic
requirements?
Character Design often lacks conceptual
understanding. The artists are in love with their
figures and closer to design. Some, however, do
succeed in managing to deal with concept. Tim
Biskup, for example, is not an artist because his
paintings are sold in the art market. Rather, his
character Helper is a means of representing various themes such as loneliness, disorientation, and
even terrorism or US history.
Character Design and commerce are increasingly working together – Boris Hoppek and
Opel, for instance. Especially in his case, does
that not leave a nasty taste of betrayal and Doudouboy

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Clockwise: Boris hoppek, Friends with you,

Photography: Achim Hatzius

Genevieve Gauckler, Friends with you

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how much freedom was given to Wayne Horse.
And the result speaks for itself.
Many artists are trying to be internationalists.
Globalisation is becoming something elitist. You
work with someone in New York or Tokyo, meet
others in Berlin, Barcelona etc. Is the scene hyped
through its international nature?
I wouldn’t see it like that. Pictoplasma was, in
fact, an attempt to bring together this scattered
and disparate global scene. People meet up elsewhere mostly on a regional basis.
Exchanges seem to be very important. Jon
Burgerman (UK) and Sune Ehlers met through
the Internet. The principle of one person starting
something and the next person carrying it on
appears to be very fruitful. Is this really the right
recipe for creating something new?
I really think so. Jon and Sune are a great
example, because they create a really open world.
At Pictoplasma conference 2006 they also initiated
a workshop in which all visitors drew common
worlds. A similar effort was made at the 2004
Pictoplasma. On that occasion Rinzen (Australia)
focussed on dolls: each visitor worked on sewing,
embroidering and characterising over 100 dolls –
it was a constant remix. The best were then
presented in a really great book Neighbourhood
(Victionary ISBN 978-9889822859).

personal connection. The characters write letters
to their sponsor and proudly invite them to a big
event. At the same time this financed our project
and covered the costs of material for the costumes.
Final question: what is your favourite design
character?
As always, that is impossible to answer. But
today it is Bad Boy Lens Flare from Fons
Schiedon (Netherlands).
And what is the new book about – Pictoplasma:
The Character Encyclopaedia?
This is already our third book that catalogues
characters. The exciting thing about this encyclopaedia is that we don’t categorise the characters
according to their technical style (Pixel, Vector,

3D, Freehand etc,), but rather as an evolutionary
system. Our encyclopaedic system has its own
unique logic. We do not use terms that are illustrated by pictures, rather the pictures are their
own, language-free, definition, and are sorted
accordingly.
What Websites would you recommend?
www.friendswithyou.com
www.doma.tv
www.borishoppek.de
www.livingcompany.de
www.mumbleboy.com
www.waynehorse.com
PICTOPLASMA,
Pictoplasma Publishing, ISBN 978-3-9810458-3-3

Characters are more than just
lifeless dolls.

Performance, dance and theatre all represented
the expansion of character designs at the last Pictoplasma. How did this manifest itself, and what
lessons were learned?
We strive to maintain the image, liveliness and
body of character design. Characters are more
than just lifeless dolls. This perspective allowed us
to develop a cooperation between costume design
students from the UdK Berlin and dancers. Jared
Gradinger from the Dorky Park / Constanza Macras group gathered together an amazing ensemble
of ten dancers. The figures were given texture and
form by a costume designer, and then the dancers
experimented with them. How do they move?
How do they react to each other? This led to a
45-minute piece that was performed at Pictoplasma.
What is the thinking behind the sponsorship
programme?
We just wanted to push everything a little bit
further? The project is defined by bringing the
characters to life, but because we didn’t want to
create a family of character designers, costume Fons Schiedon
designers and their respective characters, we developed a sort of SOS Children’s Village. The sponsorship programme was an opportunity to establish a

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The Power of Art
When admiring the Mona Lisa at the Louvre
or a Giacometti piece at the MoMa one
hardly thinks about finances. After all,
art is supposed to be a source of cultural
enrichment, an awakening of our senses.
Hidden behind this pleasure however,
is a real business that has chosen marketing
as its new best friend. Judith Benhamou,
experienced critic and writer, is familiar
with the art of the market.
Interview by Angelina A. Rafii. Photography by David Laurent. Illustrations by Estelle Sidoni.

In your book Art Business, published in 2001,
you explained that there are seven main factors
that influence the price of an art piece, namely:
the buyer, the intermediary, the seller, the place
of sale, the artist, and finally the power of the
piece itself. Do these factors still apply today or
have some lost their influence in the changing
market of the past six years?
Even if I have to admit that placing the piece
itself, and its power, last in the list you just named
is quite provocative, all those factors still apply
today. In fact, more than ever. One can see that all
the phenomenon which were observed at the end
of the 90s - when the market was stronger - are
still true today, as the market is excessive about
fashionable or high quality pieces. The art market
has become part of a lifestyle, which means that
to belong to one of these “elite clubs” of art collectors you need to consume some special kind of
work of art. Marketing has never been so important. So the idea of value, in relation with criteria
which have nothing to do with the work of art
itself, has never been so important.

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Until recently, the reins of the auction world were
exclusively held by the two competing auction
houses - Christie’s and Sotheby’s. Then emerged
Phillips de Pury, a house that largely took advantage of the antitrust allegations against the two
former auction houses to lure away some of their
clients with big money promises. The emergence
of new competition tends to stabilise prices, but
in this case the players saw their margins
shrink. The result was an inflation of prices, it
seems, on all ends. Will the bubble burst? Do you
see the market stabilising in the future or is there
already a breath of stability?
The emergence of Phillips de Pury is not the
result of antitrust allegations but rather the consequence of the personal involvement of Simon
de Pury in a firm under his name. He knows what
he does and he does what he knows best. He has
one of the best address books in the world. He is
a person who is able to feel the trends in society, as
can only a few. He tried to create a new general­ist
auction house but failed. Instead he formed something which he is really able to control in terms of
selling, buying and ultimately in terms of having a
good feeling for the consumption trends in the art
market: jewellery, contemporary art, design and
photography. This auction house has become a
Zeitgeist firm. It means that he seeks to identify
the newest trends in the consumption of art.
Previously, cutting edge galleries around the
world carried out this job. Now he even dares to
sell shoes and paintings belonging to the same
person, in the same catalogue, as part of a presumed “jet set”. The idea is to sell a story, a story
about people, which will create a desire to possess
a certain work of art and what it represents.
The competition between the two big auction
houses creates an increase in prices. In fact,
when they are in competition to obtain a lot, the
best strategy is to give a high guarantee to the
seller, a high reserve price and thus, a high estimate of the work. The risk is that the object can
be “bought in” as they say at auctions, which
means “not sold”. But in fact, as Christie’s and
Sotheby’s behave like that for works of art that
generate a high desire in the context of our time,
it is a strategy that works. This means that for a

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list of selected works of art that are fashionable
now and which the market supports, the prices
increase more and more. The phenomenon is
obvious for what one can call “easy” works of art.
By this I mean paintings that are affordable in
intellectual terms for the new buyers or for the
valeurs sûres known from the 70s or 80s such as
Cy Twombly, Richard Prince or even the great
Bruce Nauman.
I have no idea when all this will collapse but
when it happens, it will certainly be a consequence
of a crisis in the stock market. The art market is
psychologically very fragile and influenced in different ways by the atmosphere in the economy,
which means that the bubble will explode as a
consequence of some outside phenomenon. Also,
art in a way is a fashionable phenomenon. Many
people now interested in art would not normally
be, it just gives them social assets and perhaps a
vague idea of understanding our complex time.
One can imagine that many of the contemporary
values could change after the explosion.
What role do big corporations such as LVMH
and PPR play in the art world today; in the way
that art is perceived and bought? LVMH owns
the auction house Phillips de Pury. PPR owns
Christie’s. Both have had a great influence on the

What is popularity in art? Success?
Good sales? The real question aught to be
whether the work of art is relevant or not.

The Louis Vuitton Foundation for Creation, Model by Frank Gehry

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way auctions are publicised, and their PR work is
conducted via large budget increases, but how far
does their influence really reach?
As a French citizen I will first say that the fact
that two of the big players in the art market are
French is a good thing. In this country, there is a
kind of guilt attached to buying art and above all
contemporary art. François Pinault, followed by
Bernard Arnault, are both so involved in the art of
their time that they have in a way made people
feel more legitimate about taking an interest in
contemporary art.
Having said that, one has to bear in mind that
Pinault and Arnault are two very different cases.
Pinault is very involved personally in contemporary art and is perhaps also very fascinated by the
art market. He is also the owner of the first auction house, Christie’s.
Arnault has advisers to buy contemporary art
and seems to have more of a vision about the relationship between his firm, and more precisely
about Louis Vuitton and art, than anything else.
The Louis Vuitton Foundation, dedicated to modern and contemporary art, built by Frank Gehry
and directed by Suzanne Pagé, former director of
Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, could
have a real influence on the international cultural
scene.
But there are a lot of prominent buyers all
over the world and above all in the US. People
like Eli Broad in Los Angeles who are giving
money (I think 70 millions dollars last year) to
the LA museum of contemporary art, and buying art regularly – such as large collections of
Cindy Sherman, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons etc,
have a huge influence on the art scene and on
the art market. There are also, less “famous”
buyers who influence in their own way, I mean
more privately, the tastes of the present period.
For example, Anton Herbert in Belgium is considered a key person and has a huge collection,
which he showed in Barcelona last year. He has
been buying works by conceptual artists since
the end of the 60s but has only been buying
works by Baldassari for seven or eight years.
Many influential curators and collectors speak to
him and visit him. Luckily, the market is not
only led by those few highly publicised persons
that the newspapers speak about.
In recent years, we have seen how pop culture has
had an influence on the art world. The bounda­
ries between disciplines become more and more
blurred. Movies that portray a certain epoch
have started to influence purchasing trends,
socialites who used to show up at fashion shows
are now trying to buy themselves credibility by

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attending high profile auctions. Does this intermingling influence the rites of passage that an
artist has to go through in order to gain recognition? Does the popularity of a young artist today
boil down to whom he knows and where he is
seen, much like these other “disciplines”?
No, this is a new effect of civilization. Artists
create fashion and fashion designers want to create art. At the same time designers create chairs
that are not really made to be sat upon but rather
to be looked at like sculptures. There are no limits, just interchanges between different subjects.
But at the same time there are so many painters
who are just painters and who are successful…
there is not a real formula to have success, not in
those terms anyway. And we have to think that
during the Renaissance there were many touche à
tout like Leonardo Da Vinci. In our time it’s possible to be multi-faceted or very specialized. That
is fascinating. That is what one calls “post moder-

nity”, a word that I hate. We need to invent a new
one. But the real question is: what is popularity in
art? Success? Good sales? The real question aught
to be whether the work of art is relevant or not.
But the art world is like any other microcosm,
which means that if you see a work of art by a
young artist exposed in a pre-eminent museum
you feel more secure to buy. And if you see that
such a famous collector as Charles Saatchi, a professional in collecting, is buying a young artist’s
work, you think, perhaps, if you don’t have experience, that it is a good choice and anyway that he
will promote the artist. A good recent example is
a Peter Doig painting sold for 8.7 million euros
at Sotheby’s, London. It was bought by a young
Georgian man who apparently wanted to be on
the same path as Charles Saatchi.
The value of a work of art is made up of tangible points (which gallery promotes it, who are the
collectors, the art critics, is the work aesthetically
affordable, etc…) and more intangible points
which deal with the pertinence, or the idea that
you have of the pertinence, of an artist at the
beginning of the 21st century.
How has a fair like Art Basel so strongly established itself that it can launch a franchise in
Miami? What is the aftermath of such a fair?
What movements happen in the market after
such an event takes place and does the fair itself
make art more accessible to the general public?
What other fairs are comparable in terms of status with art connoisseurs?
Miami is not really a franchise. It’s the same
name used in another place with the Swiss savoir
faire to create a new fair that just deals with art and
lifestyle. Miami is about sun, glamour, luxury, big
hotels, friends and finally talking about art and
buying art. In Basel you still have a lot of classical
modern galleries showing Picasso, Giacometti or
unknown artists, dedicated to the connoisseurs.
Miami has been invented for consumption of art
under the sun, as the weather is so bad in Europe
and New York. In a way it makes art affordable to a
kind of larger public, a public who has big resources
and no culture. Why not? Society itself is more and
more elitist in terms of money. The art world with
all its grading of VIP and super VIP and super
super VIP cards is just an expression of this phenomenon. The only other fair comparable to Art
Basel is Maastricht but it’s above all the epicentre
for the dealing of old masters, even if, for example,
Hauser & Wirth participated in the 2007 fair.
Art is now largely being promoted as an investment. Similar to the way you would invest your
money in a portfolio of stocks, now you can invest

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in art. You yourself have mentioned the Ganz
family who bought The dream by Picasso in 1941
for 7,000 US dollars, and sold it for 48 million
US dollars in 1997. Stories like this obviously feed
the dream of closing a one of a kind deal. Although
in this case it was more of a long-term investment, do you think that there is speculative side
to art as an investment? Is there a growing trend?
The story about the Ganz family is that art
was their life. They really had a wonderful eye and
no money or little money. They recognized very
early the good artists who would last. This is not

The role of the museum is to dare
to go further. If you want to please your
trustees, partners and to secure them,
even in their investments, you can lose
some of your basic aims.

MoMa The Museum of Modern Art

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at all about speculation. This is about understanding the history of art and the future of art history.
Very few people have that ability, especially today.
The fact is that now you can make so much cash by
selling your Warhols, that many collectors have
the temptation to become dealers, just for the pleasure of making money. Because of this the contemporary art market has lost its common sense, due
to the large number of new very rich big buyers.
An article published in the Opinion Journal
from the Wall Street Journal Editorial Page
states that a study was conducted to evaluate
MoMA’s economic impact on New York City.
According to this study MoMA ‘adds 600 million US dollars to 700 million US dollars to
New York City incomes each year for a 2 billion US dollar total, while boosting tax revenues and creating more than 4,000 jobs.’ On
the other hand, the Louvre has just closed a one
billion euro deal to build up a satellite museum
in the United Arab Emirates. Can you describe
the economic role of a museum such as the
MoMA and its counterparts?
MoMA has become a very special institution
under the direction of Glenn Lowry. Previously
two heads, one for the management, and one for
the curatorial work drove it, now it is driven by
one person who has a precise and commercial
idea of the firm, MoMA. It means less experimental and more effective – in terms of money- exhibitions. I’m not sure that the exhibition of Gordon
Matta Clark at the Whitney that opened in February 2007 could have taken place at the MoMA.
Matta Clark was very avant-garde, very experimental. There is no strong art market for him and
he is not representative of any collection of a big
trustee or a potential big trustee of a foreign
country. What’s interesting about art is to project
society further. When art is just an echo of what
society wants to look like it means less, it has less
value. The role of the museum is to dare to go
further. If you want to please your trustees, partners and to secure them, even in their investments, you can lose some of your basic aims.
The great idea about the Louvre in Abou
Dhabi is the whole project of Saadiyaat Island. To
create a huge and ambitious complex of museums
and to believe in art in such a way, giving billions
and billions just to have the possibility of having
good art and good architecture in this part of the
world. The Sheikh in charge of the Emirates
dares to give money to occidentals and occidental
art to obtain Guggenheim and Louvre projects.
It’s the best way to reject Islamic fanaticism. A
very strong message. This is the greatest project
of the century, for sure.

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Finn Campbell-Notman

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Looking for a voice
What are today’s hot markets for illustrators?
Do illustrators need to be good storytellers?
We caught up with Daniel Chrichlow from
the brand new creative management agency,
Dutch Uncle to discuss these topics as well as
the important stages in illustration over the
last decade. Along with co-founders Helen
Cowley, Henrik Riis and Mikiharu (Miki)
Yabe, Dan Chrichlow currently runs the
London-Copenhagen based agency
with strong links to the Japanese market.
Read on…
Interview by Mike Koedinger.

“A Dutch Uncle insists on candour, honesty, truthfulness, and asks the tough moral
and ethical questions – before anyone else
does. You can be a Dutch Uncle if you care
enough about other people and they know
you care.” This initial statement is from
your website. Both artists and clients certainly
appreciate this vision, but what is the daily life
like at Dutch Uncle?
Well – at the moment there’s a lot to fit into
a day. Day to day tasks involve managing our
present commissions, dealing with new enqui­
ries and promoting our artists to get more jobs.
We have many commissions for our Japanese
artists so the days are starting early and ending
late to fit in with the time zones. I generally
start the day with a walk to work, it’s a rare
thing in London. I’m usually in work by 8:30am.
I deal with clients from about 9:30am and
before this is a planning meeting with my col­
league Helen about the jobs that day. Each day
is very different according to the deadlines and
enquiries we receive.

Working globally with today’s technology is easy,
but what’s the secret of a good (virtual) briefing?
A good brief outlines the foundation of a com­
mission – a schedule for delivery of rough and
final images, the usage details, image sizes and a
brief describing what is expected from the images
required. We aim to get these three things out­
lined at the earliest stage.
From a client, most artists expect both: a clear
briefing and enough freedom. How does that
work together?
If an artist understands exactly what the client
is trying to achieve from the illustration then they
know how much artistic freedom they have. The
artists we represent give at least a couple of rough
options for the client to choose from. Every brief
is unique. While one client wants something very
directed another gives a title and leaves the artist
the freedom to go where they want with it.
Does distance make it more difficult?
It’s no more difficult to brief and work with an
artist in another country than it is working with
an artist based in London. It’s just a matter of
working around time. We have a clock in our stu­
dio for every artist we work with in different time
zones. It looks a bit like the beginning of the
movie Back To The Future. The only problem we
encounter is when we have an unrealistic turn­
around on a job, like an image needed the same
day. It happens. This is obviously a problem if
the artist chosen for the job is from a time zone
ahead of us, like Japan, and they are already out
partying or when they are behind us in time, say
in San Francisco, and they are still asleep. When
this happens we are honest about the situation
and try to help find a solution. This problem only
happens on very quick 24 hour turnarounds. Cul­
tural distance needs to be considered with certain
jobs. This just requires more visual reference and
better explanations.
In the mid-nineties, the early Wallpaper* introduced the beautiful gouache works by Barcelona
based illustrator Jordi Labanda. For many, this was
the starting point of the comeback of trendy illustration. In your opinion, what have the important
steps in illustration been during the last decade?
The past ten years have seen a lot of change in
illustration. The use of computers as a medium

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and the internet has changed the illustration indus­
try forever. Trends in illustration still come and
go overnight. What is cool today is challenged
tomorrow. I think the most important steps have
been in artists having websites of their work. This
has increased the client’s ability to research a very
specific illustration style, browse for styles when
they don’t know exactly what they want and gener­
ally expand their knowledge of what is available.
Illustration is now a worldwide marketplace. A big
step is the fact that clients in London are now using
artists from all over the world from Helsinki to
Hawaii. They no longer have to stay local to find
the perfect person for the job because the limita­
tions which existed ten years ago, such as the deliv­
ery of original artwork, are no longer a problem.
In the same period, there has also been a new
interest for adult comic artists / illustrators such

as Robert Crumb or Eric Stanton. Interest for
eroticism seems timeless, but other subjects are
more trend related. I think of romanticism, nature
or patterns. Do you think the emergence of those
trends is related to current values in society? And,
is eroticism really timeless?
Sexual imagery is, as they say, still the best way
to sell a product. So as long as there are hungry
minds and products to sell I guess eroticism and a
sexually fuelled imagery, whether it is in photo­
graphy or illustration, is essentially timeless. On
an agency website where I used to work it was
interesting to see from the statistics that the most
common word hit was for the subject “sex” and
the second was “fashion”.
Pencils, wax crayons, colour spray, chalk, acrylic,
oil pastels, paint brushes, dip pen, markers,
collage, computer software… today the techniques

A big step is the fact that clients in London
are now using artists from all over the world
from Helsinki to Hawaii.

are numerous and often mixed. What’s the life­
span of a style or a technique?
The lifespan of working in a single technique
is dependent upon what the artist’s specific mar­
ket is. A trendy technique is limited to the life­
span of the trend but can generate a lot of money
for the artist during that period if they are riding
the forefront of that wave. Again, as soon as a
style or technique becomes popular, it’s not long
before it is challenged and the opposite style
starts to rise.
Does the variety of techniques leave any place
for trends?
I think we are at a point where trends are rising
and crashing much quicker because of the avail­
ability of so many techniques.
Dutch Uncle is based both in London and Copenhagen, and also represents a wide range of artists
from Tokyo. Do trends nowadays exist merely in
geographical markets or by sectors of activity?
Trends go on journeys around the world. What
might start as a trend in London I sometimes see
a year later elsewhere in the world. In Japan
trends rise and crash within the blink of an eye.
It’s impossible for me to keep up without becom­
ing a slave to it.
Today, illustration is everywhere: in the museums with artists such as Gary Baseman, in the
galleries and streets with artists like Miss Van,
Boris Hoppek and Banksy. Formal boundaries
seem no longer to exist. Is the difference, from
art to illustration, only in the substance, in the
meaning?
The boundaries are certainly blurred nowadays
between art and illustration. I guess the big differ­
ence I see between the two is in who calls the shots.
If an artist produces their own work starting from
personal viewpoints and feelings, I class it as an art­
work. If an artist starts a piece of work with the
primary aim to convey another person’s point of
view I class it as an illustration. I think artists think
that a personal piece of work, without any outside
direction, falls into being an illustration just
because it has been published. I see a lot of space in
independent magazines for artist’s personal work
as opposed to a directed piece of illustration.

Izumi Nogawa

60

From Chaumont Poster Festival to Le Book
Connections -the place we first met- where are
the places to be for an artist or an agent?
The perfect place for an agent is in front of
potential clients. Speaking for ourselves, we try to
get around to as many exhibitions, events, and
meetings as we can and talk with as [>>ù65]

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Kustaa Saksi

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Dragon

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Lyndon Hayes

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Aesthetic Apparatus

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[>>ù60] many people as possible. Not only cli­
ents but artists. After all, illustration is a collabo­
ration process, so as an agent we like to be out
there to spark those relationships, create aware­
ness about the artist we rep, and then help main­
tain those connections. Exhibitions are a good
way for us to meet an artist or client in a more
informal way as well as the LeBook events where
we first met.
It is definitely a relief for artists not to have to
make the financial negotiations with the clients,
but an agent does more as he generally manages
to increase the fees through his market know­
ledge and understanding.
We have worked with artists in the past who
just see an agent as an extension of their accoun­
tant – or someone to invoice a job on their behalf
and chase money for them. We do this as part of
the agency, but we do so much more. When it
comes to increasing fees, we have worked on
thousands of commissions and quotations so with
that experience we understand the leverage avail­
able in demanding higher fees.
What are today’s hot markets for illustrators?
Books, music industry, advertising, magazine edi­
to­rials, posters, t-shirts?
The illustration industry is as wide open as it
ever has been. Illustration is being applied in every
way that any product can carry an image and in a
wide variety of styles. I guess the hottest markets
are always where the money is. Advertising is gen­
erally the top dollar but there are lots of other pro­
jects we work on which not only enhance the bank
balance but ones richness of life too. Every artist we
represent appreciates their work on products such
as book covers, album covers, toys, t-shirts etc.

an A+ with only 1 hours revision before the exam.
It’s not going to happen and at best you will just
scrape a pass.
To have a successful long-term career is to have
continual awareness of the market, to adapt and
develop. Each artist should find the time for
personal work and to experiment. Keep yourself
excited by your own work. It translates as enthusi­
asm for what you do. For longevity, it’s simply
keeping your existing clients interested and happy
and finding new clients to expand your market. It’s
from these happy clients that you get good word
of mouth advertising which is priceless in devel­
oping a long term career. I’m afraid there is no
sure-fire strategy for longevity that will work for
every artist. We keep our agency numbers man­
ageable so we can have reviews and strategy meet­
ings with each artist at regular periods to work out
what is working and what isn’t. I think every artist

Each artist should find time for personal
work and to experiment. Keep yourself
excited by your own work.

Can you please give us a brief outline of how a
work gets its price? What are the key elements
for setting the fees of commissioned works?
The bottom line is – the more an illustration is
going to be seen the more money an image should
be worth. This translates as usage. It sounds sim­
ple but licensing is a massive area full of contracts
and small print. In this area there is definitely no
substitute for experience.
As the connection to the market, the agent is
also the artist’s first adviser regarding strategic,
long-term career choices. What are the mistakes
to avoid?
To be honest, the biggest of mistakes can come
from an artist’s lack of effort on a job. With every
client you really are only as good as the last illus­
tration you produce. Submitting a rushed through
execution is like trying to pass your exams with Stuart Daly

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Shibuya

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should remember to invest in themselves and
their own advertising such as a website.
What do you hope and expect to find in a young
illustrator’s portfolio?
I’m looking for self-belief, self-discipline and
talent. I have seen very talented artists fail because
they don’t have that self-belief or self-discipline.
I’ve seen less talented artists become very success­
ful because they have a lot of self-belief. When
searching for an artist I’m looking for a voice – an
individual personality. It’s also important to me
that an artist has some commercial work in their
portfolio. It shows they have self-confidence in
what they do to go out there and get some work.
Every commission is a recommendation to me as
an agent. Especially if I know who the person is
who has commissioned the work. I’m not looking
for any specific education but seeing a degree or
masters tells me that this person has invested in
their career.
Does an illustrator need to be a good storyteller?
The artist needs to be able to tell a story
because a client at some point or another will ask
them to do this. Whether it’s to illustrate an arti­
cle about a kid being bullied at school or a guy on
a vespa taking off into the sunset with the girl of
his dreams. Most things have a story and a back­
ground. Even illustrations that are purely decora­
tive have a sentiment to convey.

but there are other mags which pay less but might
add to an artists kudos. I always check through the
Saturday and Sunday newspapers and their maga­
zines because I have the space and time on a weekend
to read the articles as well as look at the pictures.
Bo Lundberg’s work can be seen on cups,
Wilfrid Wood creates 3D type, Joel Holland
does Letterings and Dragon does live painting.
Dutch Uncle calls itself a “creative management agency” and not an “agency for illustration”. Is it a sign of the times that Dutch Uncle’s
illustrators enlarge their fields of activity to other
disciplines?
Each artist we rep is doing totally different
projects. We love working with a wide range of
clients so the more diverse the artists we rep
the more diverse the projects we get to work
with. We call the agency a “creative manage­
ment agency” because not everyone we repre­
sent has their main discipline as illustration.
Link: www.dutchuncle.co.uk

The hottest markets are always where
the money is and advertising is generally
the top dollar.

How important is personal work in the development of an illustrator’s own style?
If we consider that style is like an artist’s voice,
taking space and time for experimentation is inte­
gral for the artist to find and then train their
voice. Personal work offers a platform for experi­
mentation in an artist’s subject, styles, techniques,
disciplines etc. Seeing personal work is equal to
seeing commercial work for me as an agent.
Self published compendiums such as The Hungry Zine in Australia showcase personal works.
What other magazines do you consider relevant
forums for an artist to be published?
Anything that displays the artist’s work to the
public is relevant. Whether it’s a zine like The
Hungry Zine, a full page in Oyster Mag or getting
their website and profiles on design engines like
Lounge72, Pixelsurgeon, Netdiver whatever. Just so Bo Lundberg
long as they are spreading the word.
Who are the leading magazines for commissioned work?
There are so many. The ones that pay the most
money are obviously good for commissioned work

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Handsome rints

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Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re holding in your hands a cultural
phenomenon. From quirky one-offs to Vogue,
magazines are a unique record of the way
we live and the things we love. Here, five of
the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s foremost magazine experts
discuss the mainstream, academia, bespoke
publishing, the biggest archive in the world
and electronic paper.
Photography by Andres Lejona.

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An art gallery in two
dimensions
Angelo Cirimele is the publisher and editor
of Magazine, a bi-monthly publication
based in Paris that contains articles
and interviews about the independent
(or “style press”) magazine sector.
Interview by Andrew Losowsky. Photography by Andres Lejona.

Why magazines?
I was a cinema critic in the 60s and 70s, when
interesting things were happening in cinema.
One way to understand our world was to look at
the cinema.
Right now, I don’t think that there are interesting things happening in cinema, except perhaps
in countries such as Argentina or the ex-USSR.
But magazines are unique. They come from
everywhere in the world, and although everyone
talks about globalisation, a magazine made in
Finland and one made in Japan are really very
different.
They can circulate reasonably easily. Magazines are the place where you can see photo­
graphy, artists, fashion designers, and more,
showcasing their work. Magazines are places
where things happen.
What are independent magazines about?
It’s a paradox - everyone thinks that magazines are about information but these niche
magazines are not.

Or rather, they are about information in the
same way that literature and art are information.
The way it is done tells you a great deal about the
moment and the place you live in.
An art gallery and a style press magazine are
the same thing - one is a 3D space, the other a
2D space. You make a layout, you create a space,
and you fill it with creativity. Take the magazine
Yummy from France, I didn’t think a magazine
about fast food was a good idea - but they did
it anyway, and I look at it, and I think, merde,
how did they make me change my opinion? It’s
a way of life for the creator of the magazine.
When he travels around the world, the only
thing he collects is junk food. The important
thing is that he does it. He doesn’t care so much
whether the magazine sells out or n>ot. It’s a
journey – and we need these stories to tell us
about ourselves. A lot of these magaiznes don’t
sell more than 200-300 copies. They – and we
– just need enough money to print. That’s because
it’s about a way of life, not working just for the
money or for a sponsor.
What makes magazines exciting?
Some people think that paper is not fast.
Paper is the fastest thing there is. With a
magazine you change every issue, and yet you
don’t change. When you look at an important
style press magazine, it’s always the same familiar
magazine and yet it’s never the same. Newspapers
are always the same design, but the information
changes. In Magazine, all of it changes. Take the
next issue of Magazine for example, I don’t know
who will be in it or what it will look like. But I
do know that it will be the way that I want it to
be. We put ourselves on the line, and I hope that
that’s how we continue being relevant.

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Will magazines lose their relevance one day?
Probably. We don’t know what will happen
as technology advances. Twenty years ago, I
wouldn’t have been so fascinated with magazines, because back then there were not so many
interesting publications. It was so difficult. You
couldn’t make personal magazines because it cost
so much.
No new media kills off old media, it only makes
it change. Just as photography has changed art.
The classic newspapers and mainstream magazines don’t understand what is happening with
technology. As a result, they don’t make good

The way a magazine is done tells you
a great deal about the moment and
the place you live in.

decisions when faced with free dailies and the
internet.
We, in the style press, are the ones inventing new
ways of doing things. Because we are small, we can
change, reinvent ourselves, change our shape. If
you want to know the result of the football match,
you look on your phone, your ipod, your computer, whatever. But if you want to see great photo­
graphy reproduced, you won’t get that quality on
a screen. That is where our strength lies.
How do magazine people think?
A magazine is an ego trip. For a magazine
maker, nothing exists except the magazine. We
are all crazy and convinced that we are doing
the best magazine in the world. I get a little
bored when people say “I have problems with
distribution, money, advertising...” Everyone has
problems. The interesting thing is how you see
your content, and what you are inventing?
Does the mainstream learn from the style press?
Advertising agencies learn a lot from the style
press, and they buy everything they can find. But
here’s another paradox: the big media companies
don’t understand that the style press can offer
another way of doing things. Their magazines
have been done in the same way for 30 years. It’s
easier to invent something from scratch than to
change a huge thing like that.
If the world were as it should be, we would be
asked to work on the supplement in Le Monde,
which is shamefully bad right now. The mainstream should ask the style press to work for
them, but I don’t think they realise it. In advertising, 5% of the budget goes to research, but
in media, we are the ones doing the research by
being more adventurous. We are at least five years
ahead of the mainstream, in the ways we deal with
pictures and stories.
Is there no crossover at all between the main­
stream and the style press?
Brand magazines are more and more interesting. Take American Apparel’s magazine, it’s great,
and the content is created by the same people
behind the magazine Celeste. You can say a lot
with a brand like that behind you. Maybe you
wouldn’t pay for such a magazine, but as it’s free,
you’ll pick it up. Then you’ll search for the next
issue yourself.
What are your favourite magazines?
032C, Fantastic Man, Self Service is well done,
Another Man is well done too. I think Monocle will
be good, as it develops too - they’ve found something interesting to explore.

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Professor Magazine
Samir Husni is chair of journalism
at The University of Mississippi, USA.
Better known as “Mr Magazine”, each year
he produces the Guide to New Magazines
(currently in its 22nd edition). He has
a collection of 23,000 first editions
of magazines from around the world.
Interview by Andrew Losowsky. Photography by Andres Lejona.

Why teach magazines?
I discovered a long time ago that, if I’m an
outside observer, I can put my hands on every
magazine I want. I can call people and ask
them to send their prototype issue, their media
kit, and the next day it will be on my desk,
because I’m not looked upon as competition. If
I worked for a magazine, no matter how small
or big, I would become the competition. And
once you’re the competition, no-one’s going to
send you stuff.
How do you teach magazines?
I teach three courses, Anything by Design, Maga­
zine Publishing and Magazine Management.
Firstly, the design - I really believe that in this
day and age, packaging, visuals and presentation
are so important. I caution people from the very
beginning, although we spend a long time on
packaging, you have to have the Godiva chocolates to put in the Godiva box. Whatever we are
packaging, it has to be in a package that is suitable
for that product.

For the magazine publishing course, each student develops an idea for a magazine and creates
a business plan for it. They have to come up with
the concept, how it is going to survive, the competition, the advertising market, who’s going to
be reading it, who’s going to be advertising, how
they’re going to take it to the market, and the
budget. They also have to create at least a year’s
worth of content, to make sure the idea is sustainable. Then they create a prototype issue, 68 pages
that the students have to design and execute,
based on their plan.
The final course is Magazine Management,
where they learn everything about distribution, advertising and subscription. They create
a direct mail piece to solicit subscription, they
create a newsstand plan and a media kit to solicit
advertising. When they graduate from the program, they have a good solid knowledge of, not
only the editorial side, but also the business side
of magazines.
Has anyone made their magazines for real?
One of my big success stories is Golf for
Women magazine. It was started by two students
in my class, a husband and his wife. They did
the business plan and the prototype issue, and
were then able to raise enough money from a
small town in Mississippi to make it happen.
However, there isn’t really a good golf course
there, so they rented a PO box in Florida. They
made it look like the magazine was made close to
where all the best golf courses are, even though
it was completely created in Oxford, Mississippi.
After eight issues, they had reached a circulation
of about 10,000 subscribers, and then the
Meredith Corporation became interested in it.
They bought the magazine, employed my former students and kept them on it for five years.
Then Meredith took the magazine to New York,
and then sold it to Condé Nast. Now the magazine has a circulation of half a million.

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I’ve been teaching this course for 23 years,
and many of my students are now editors-inchief and art directors on magazines around the
country.
Has your course changed much over the years?
Definitely! That’s why I don’t use textbooks.
I tell my students “You can take my course again and
again, because every year you’ll see different things.”
Some of the basics never change, of course.
The four cornerstones will always be reporting,
writing, editing and news judgement.
However, our business always changes. Change
is our only constant. I remember when I came to
the Universisty of Mississippi in 1984, I was
the first person to bring in a Mac computer with

If a magazine cannot survive the present,
there’s no use in talking about the future.
The biggest mistake today in magazines is
that we’re focusing so much on tomorrow,
we’re forgetting about today.

Pagemaker. People were coming from across the
whole state, and from the local newspapers too, to
see “desktop publishing”. Now the students can
come in and teach us about desktop publishing,
blogging and everything else!
What do you think about the future of maga­
zines?
If a magazine cannot survive the present, there’s
no use in talking about the future. The biggest
mistake today in magazines is that they’re focusing so much on tomorrow, that they’re forgetting
about today.
We need to put the blinkers back on, focus on
what we are doing. We’ve become so distracted
– like a kid in a candy store – by all the other
media: TV channels, internet, blogs, you name
it, when all you need to ask is, how can you
make your magazine relevant? The magazine
is the best laptop ever invented. It will never
burn your legs, its batteries never fade and it
will always be compatible with every system.
We need to remember that.
What state is the magazine industry in today?
We have more magazines now worldwide than
any other time in history. They’re getting better
and bigger. Technology is making it such that you
can even print one single copy. The whole definition of an audience of one has come true. New
printing methods and digital photography help to
make better magazines.
Is it harder than ever to make money from
magazines?
It was always hard. Right now, the whole concept of selling less for more is taking place. We
have more magazines than ever before but are
selling less of each one. The publishers have to
put the commercial cap on their heads and admit,
“I’m in this business to make money.” No matter
how good your magazine is, if you can’t survive,
it’s not a success. Death is failure.
What is your favourite magazine?
It is so hard to differentiate between my
children. If I see a volume one, number one, it
becomes my favourite magazine for that minute.
Someone once said that the joy of conceiving a
magazine is much greater than giving birth to it.
I view myself as the doctor who catches the baby.
I’m not involved in the pain. I just get the joy of
that first cry.
A new magazine puts me on a high. If I don’t
find a new magazine on my visit to the newsstands, I feel like shaking the man and saying
“Where’s my drug?!”

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The mainstream
disappointment
Jeremy Leslie is the creative director of
John Brown, the UK’s largest customer
publisher. He is also the author of the books
MagCulture and New Issues in Magazine Design.
He designed the book We Love Magazines,
and co-curated Colophon 2007, an international
magazine event.
Interview by Andrew Losowsky. Photography by Andres Lejona.

Why magazines?
I’ve worked all of my career in magazines.
Once or twice I’ve tried to move away into other
areas, and it just proved to me that magazines are
where my heart is. As a designer of magazines,
you are involved in both the content and the
design, because a magazine is the collaboration
of strong words and strong images, and the combination of the two on the page. In a sense, it’s
like advertising – you’re working together with
others to create a united piece.
What do you think about mainstream maga­
zines?
I think there is a problem facing most mainstream magazines today, and that is that both
content and design are pretty homogenous.
There are very few magazines striking out and
doing something that can be described as different or new. Over the last 40 years, magazines have
become more and more commoditised. They are
understood, researched and quantified to the
point where there’s very little difference between
the market leaders in any given sector.

That’s a disappointment to me, because if you
go back to the 50s and 60s, even the big successful
magazines were doing things that were much more
innovative. One of the biggest launches constantly
referred to in recent years was the UK edition of
Glamour magazine, where the story was that it
was a different format. And that for me is a victory
of marketing over creativity. It was a very clever
idea but there wasn’t really anything different to
distinguish Glamour from every other women’s
magazine that was already out there. It was market-research led, rather than coming up with a new
form of content or a new type of presentation.
Where are magazines heading?
There is an ongoing feeling of doom in the
mainstream market. There are still some good
things happening, but overall there is a sense of
being on a treadmill and having to keep selling.
There is a generally accepted fact that there
are more individual magazines out there, but the
total volume of magazines sold remains static.
That’s because the same readers are being split
into smaller and smaller groups. Someone said
recently, “Standing still is the new selling more.”
In both the US and the UK, the weekly magazine is what keeps the sales up, and that lets the
publisher produce four times as many magazines,
and so get four times as much ad revenue. Where
do you go from there? Daily magazines, is that
what’s going to happen? Maybe newspapers and
magazines are heading to meet together. The
big pressure right now seems to be to speed that
up, but I’m not sure where things could head
from there.
Occasionally, genuinely innovative and exciting magazines do come through. The most recent
one I’ve been a big supporter of was Grazia. It
takes the slightly older, more mature, grown up
approach of magazines like Marie Claire, and puts
it into a weekly. It’s designed and made in a very
strong manner - a genuine innovation that’s now
rolling out to other countries.

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Where is print innovation coming from?
If you’re working in fashion you have more
scope to play. If you look at an international
product like Vogue, the British edition is a fantastic magazine for its audience. It’s not scary and
not “überfashion” oriented but it is about clothes
and it has a history of recording the creative arena
in Britain. The American edition is much more
mainstream and a day-to-day high street fashion
bible. Then if you go to France, it’s more about
haute couture. It’s a trade publication. Italian
Vogue’s the same.
French Vogue has had some great designers
– M/M and now Fabian Baron. They really
contribute to what magazines can look like,
building on the history of Vogue, and also taking it forward.

There is a generally accepted fact that there
are more individual magazines out there but
the total volume of magazines sold remains
static. That’s because the same readers are
being split into smaller and smaller groups.

And of course there’s the independent microzine style press. A lot of them are pushing what
a magazine can be. Regardless of talking about
the independent, or mainstream, or customer
publishing (which is where I’m working now),
the magazines that interest me are those that play
with the magazine form and test what a magazine
can be.
Is there a big split between independent maga­
zines and the mainstream?
I do think that most people involved in magazines of all kinds, especially the designers, are
conscious of each other’s work. But mainstream
publishing as an industry is a much harder thing to
influence. Increasingly, the influence comes from
the commercial side, not the creative side. A lot of
people who work in smaller magazines are people
who have escaped from, or have been repelled, by
the commerciality of the mainstream.
Some broad themes have emerged. The return
of mainstream illustration, and the rise of vector
illustration, came about in the early 90s through
Wallpaper*. Wallpaper*, despite its fame, has always
been a very niche magazine. Subsequently, Carlos
[the former publication for Virgin Atlantic Upper
Class] did the same with hand drawn illustration.
Neither created something totally new, but they
were the ones to put these types of illustration
into print, reflect what was happening, and sub­
sequently influence the mainstream.
In terms of what we do here at John Brown,
Carlos was a very niche and esoteric publication,
and entirely appropriate for what it was doing.
The magazine we produce for Sky TV is a big
brash product that is absolutely right for Sky - and
if you swapped them over, it would be a fascina­
ting project for a designer, but it would be absurd.
The mainstream is locked into its ways, and in a
sense so are the independent magazines. If either
becomes too much like the other, they’ll fail.
If there’s a schism between independence and
the mainstream, customer publishing is the obvious thing to sit in the middle. The question is,
how does it relate to the two? What opportunities are there to work with independent magazines, to develop relationships with brands where
they’re creating a new product to communicate
with brands?
What are the magazines that you always grab?
Carl’s Cars, Frame, TIAM, Yummy, Karen,
Marmalade was but isn’t any more, Draft, Kasino
A4... and the magazines that I haven’t seen
before. I see them randomly and if I don’t know
what they are, I’ll usually just pick it up and put
it in the shopping basket.

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The pages of history
Horst Moser owns the largest private
collection of magazines in the world.
Born in 1951, Moser lives in Munich
where he works as art director of the
award-winning design agency Independent
Medien-Design, overseeing Leica World,
among other publications. He was also the
author of Surprise Me – An Art Director’s Handbook.
Interview by Andrew Losowsky. Photography by Eric Chenal and Andres Lejona.

How many magazines does your archive contain?
I don’t know the exact number, but it’s around
one million magazines and newspapers.
How did the archive come about?
We wanted to get an international overview of
what was happening in magazines for our design
studio in Munich.
If you look at other fields, scientists around the
world - be they biologists or physicists or chemists- know what is happening in say, Japan right
now. They have to, in order to do their job properly. But that kind of communication has been
impossible for magazines.
Magazine specialists such as art directors,
editors and designers simply don’t know what
is happening in their own field in, for example,
Holland and Italy. They don’t have an international overview to assist their work.
When did you start the archive?
I started seriously collecting 15 years ago,
because I wanted to write some pieces for Leica

World about classic art directors and how they
used photography.
So I travelled to Berlin to visit the archive of
German Vogue to get hold of copies from the
1920s. When I got there, it was closed. I decided
it would just be better to buy the magazines
myself, and photograph them in the way that I
wanted.
That’s how it began. Soon, as I travelled
around the world for my work, I started buying
up old magazines, though they were often quite
expensive.
This was during the time when eBay was just
starting up – and that’s when I got most of my
magazines. At that time, it was fashionable to say
that it was the end of print, and lots of people
began to sell their old magazines. The Institut
Français decided to sell its back issue collection
of Le Monde, and then someone else sold a big
collection of Die Zeit.
The expensive bit was not the magazines themselves, but the transportation, which is why no
one was buying them up. I was able to get a hold
of entire collections of some publications, as well
as single editions of classic magazines. You can’t
really do that any more because people are more
aware of what is valuable. You no longer find such
bargains.
How often do you add to the archive?
I buy one to two metres of books and magazines
per week. It’s not about copying or stealing ideas
from others. Instead, it’s a case of understanding
other people’s work and having an overview of
current trends.
I don’t collect for the sake of it either. I collect for research purposes, and to write books like
Surprise Me.
I want these magazines to be available for my
own designers in the studio. My goal has always
been to showcase what is possible, to movitate
people and to raise the level of creativity emer­
ging from independent design. There are more
than a hundred ways of designing a contents

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page, for instance. If people can refer to some of
these, then their work will be stronger.
I always find it interesting to see what others
are doing, and what people did before. There are
often interesting topics that you can explore.
Are there any themes that particularly interest
you?
One such topic is illustration. I have an enormous collection of current trends in illustration. I’m currently sharing that section of the
archive with an institute that teaches reportage

I buy one to two meters of books and
magazines per week... it’s a case
of understanding other people’s work
and having an overview on current trends.

illustration in Germany, so that the students can
use the collections themselves, and do research
on the theme.
Reportage illustration is interesting because
you have to be subjective like an artist, but also
objective, to present things as they happened. It’s
much better than a photograph. A photograph is
just one moment captured, whereas an illustrator
can summarise a great deal more in the way they
draw something.
How do you arrange the archive?
The archive isn’t very well ordered. I order the
magazines according to different criteria. I might
want to find a variety of interesting covers, or
different papers, or a selection of car magazines
from around the world. There is no single cate­
gory that I can sort the archive under.
How do you use the archive?
We do corporate publishing as part of our
work. In that industry there are many people
involved in the decision-making process who
have no idea about publishing. If you are
trying to do something interesting with the
design, and can present examples of where
designers have done something similar before,
it helps you a lot. The archive is filled with
formulas for presentations that don’t age,
because they can easily be reinvented to make
them current.
It’s like music and theatre - although the tunes
or the plays may be old, they are always being
reinvented and adapted to the modern age.
What are your plans for the archive?
I want to turn it into a museum, an archive with
an exhibition hall plus a huge cafe containing the
current editions of magazines from around the
world, like a centre for the press, both present
and historical.
I’ve been speaking to different people about
it, like the mayor of Munich, but it’s difficult. It
needs a big space, such as an old railway shed.
The space needs to be accessible and welcoming
for the general public, not just archives crammed
into a small space as we have now.
Are you writing any more books about maga­
zine design?
We’re launching the paperback verison of
Surprise Me in the UK this year. I also have two or
three new books about editorial design currently
in the planning stages... but we have a lot of work
right now at the studio. We don’t earn any money
from book design, so it’s difficult to find the time
for such things. The work always goes on.

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The end of paper
David Renard consults for established and
independent publishers, wholesalers and
distrbutors of magazines. He authored
The Last Magazine, a book that argues that the
future of mainstream magazines is purely
digital, and that paper will be the preserve
of the style press. He lives in New York.
Interview by Andrew Losowsky. Photography by Andres Lejona.

What has happened to magazines?
At one time, magazines and newspapers were
the only source of information available. Magazines were where you could find more refined and
thought-out information with better images. But
over the last 20 years, that’s changed. The arrival
of cable TV, the internet and other visual media
means that magazines and newspapers have lost
some of their lustre for the masses.
People are moving away from magazines
because they are looking for something that’s
quicker, that can be tailored to their specific needs,
and that can show not just static information but
information that moves.
But there’s a growing niche of style press magazines. It used to be extremely costly to create a
magazine. People could create newspapers in the
60s and 70s that were relatively inexpensive, and
the “‘zine movement” became very powerful, but
to create a glossy magazine on the newsstand was
always out of reach. That’s why now, you have
a resurgence of boutique, high-end magazines,
because people who grew up with glossy magazines see that they can produce one themselves

for a lot of money, and produce something as
good as, if not better than what’s in stores. And
so the style press has an affection for paper in
the way that vinyl has a following in the music
industry.
Where will magazines go?
Publishers from the massmarket world – that
is, 95% of magazines today - are currently bound
to paper because that’s all they know, and they’ve
not been forced to change.
However, book and newspaper publishers have
started incorporating technology in what they
do because they’ve been forced to. A year and a
half ago, book publishers had Google and Yahoo
and Amazon saying that they’re going to scan in
every book that’s out there - and they’ll control
how it’ll be sold too. The publishers were looking at dramatically falling margins and so started
to face up to the possibilities of new technology.
Newspapers also saw their livelihood disappearing online, and have had to figure out what their
business model is going to be in the future.
Magazines don’t see that. Magazines say “the
experience of reading the articles is not the same
online. My magazine is more about analysis and
giving advice and strong images”.
Truthfully, the experience of images and design
online is still nowhere close to that of print.
When I read the New York Times on paper, I’ll
read maybe an article or two every spread, 18 to
20 articles. When I read it online, I’ll read four,
because everything is just there on the home­page
and it’s not taking me through an edited process
where I discover something new on the way to
what I’m looking for. The internet is not yet
geared to answer the needs of magazine readers.
That will change. E-paper is going to change
that. Multi-touch technology, the ability to
manipulate data a bit like the film Minority
Report, so that you can manipulate data as you
would items on your desk. These kinds of technology are going to be able to replicate the

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experience of a magazine, and to change the
magazine industry for good. Publishers know
that, but they’re thinking more about what they
can do to stay on par and not go out of business
in the next four to five years.
What will an e-paper magazine be like?
E-paper is really a digital version of paper, and
not in the sense that a screen is like paper. It will
look and feel more like paper.
But a magazine in its essence is going to change.
If you look at the digital magazine Monkey made
by Dennis Publishing in the UK, every page has

By 2015-2020 you’ll have an e-paper
solution that will compete effectively with
a magazine. And that’s being extremely
conservative about the timing.

a combination of video, static visuals and text.
Though that magazine isn’t for everybody, it’s a
really good example of how a magazine will need
to evolve to stay competitive with other media. If
you look at what’s happening in Japan right now,
young kids are reading full-length books on their
cellphones. The writing and the way that words
are constructed in Japanese makes it easier to do
that. But younger generations are having their
minds formed to read in a different way, not in
terms of length but in terms of scanning multiple
data sources at the same time.
If you know anything about how the mind
works, the connections that are created are
based on your experiences. If your experiences
are made of continuous multi-tasking between a
large number of sources – reading a short newsflash or article, and at the same time there’s a
TV blaring and you’re listening to your favourite
music, you’ve got three conversations going on at
the same time and IM flashing as well – in essence
the interaction between people and information
is entirely different to what we grew up with.
A magazine does not need to be defined by the
medium it is read on. A magazine is a set of information that is designed, edited, metered or paginated and authenticated, meaning it has a time
stamp, and is permanent. You can’t go back and
change it. That definition is not going to change,
whether it’s in print or bits and bytes.
I came up with that definition with people who
worked on my book, and we spent 15 hours creating it. But the magazine industry itself does not
have a definition of what a magazine is. People say
“our blog is a magazine” or a website is our visual
magazine, but no-one actually has defined it.
When will the technology be good enough for
magazines to make the switch?
In the next two years, we’re going to see
A4-sized semi-flexible e-paper. It will flex a
bit but not really fold or roll up. It’ll still be
black and white, or maybe 256 colours. By
2010, you’ll start having much better colour,
by 2012 you’ll have colour that competes with
a magazine, and the flexibility will improve so
that, by 2015-20, you’ll have a solution that will
compete effectively with a magazine. And that’s
being extremely conservative about the timing.
Companies working on this include Phillips
and Sony, plus Amazon is hoping to bring out an
e-reader. Any major technology company that has
a link to media, Sony, Phillips, Epson, Hitachi,
Fujistu, HP, is looking at hardware solutions in
this field. Everybody wants a stake in defining
what the future will be, and how we’ll interact
with information on a digital scale.

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Another glance
at fashion
More than a fashion icon, Diane Pernet
has been an important player in the fashion
universe since the 80s. A top fashion
designer in New York for thirteen years,
she moved to Paris where she worked as a
costume designer, and then as a journalist.

Interview by Catherine Callico. Illustration by Christina K.

Since 2005, she has been developing her own
projects, such as her famous blog a shaded
view on fashion, and the first international
short Fashion Film Festival, You Wear It Well.
We met her at Toraya, a Japanese tea-room
near La Concorde. True to form she is dressed
in black, like a Sicilian widow. It is a timeless
look that suits her so perfectly and sets her far
from conventional fashion codes.
Can you describe your personal journey since you
moved from New York to Paris 17 years ago?
I arrived in Paris in October 1990. I used to
love New York, but the last four years I was
there, it had become like a scene out of Blade
Runner but not in a good way. Crime, drugs,
people sleeping in the streets, and fifty percent
of my neighbourhood who had died of AIDS. It
was so depressing. The last collection I did in
New York was like a group collection, with
Isabel Toledo, a famous American designer. I
decided to move to Paris, anything could happen. I wouldn’t go to London. It wasn’t exotic
in comparison with New York. I could have also
gone to Milan, it is one of my favourite cities
but it is too small. Paris, as a centre of fashion,
is more interesting. I knew only one person, an
old friend. I didn’t want to be a fashion designer
and have to start from scratch again. So my first

job was designing costumes for the film Golem,
made by a famous director but an unbearable
person, Amos Gitaï. My job was too stressful,
but it was a wonderful experience. I did a couple of films but realized that it really wasn’t my
thing. You can work until 3am and be back at
7am. I needed more freedom. Then I became
a journalist by accident. I became the fashion
editor for Joyce magazine, then I worked for Elle.com
and then I spent three years at VogueParis.com
and made videos. In February 2005, I decided
to give life to my online magazine, ashadedviewonfashion.com.
How do you perceive fashion in New York and
in Paris?
It is really different. New York is more like
Milan, except that Milan has better fabrication
and better fabrics. It’s big business on the one
hand and minimal interest in creativity on the
other. There is a true appreciation for creativity
in Paris, not because the designers are French,
they are from everywhere: they are Belgian,
American, Japanese, British… If you do a show
that is rather dramatic and eccentric, some people
will see the show in Paris and appreciate it but
wouldn’t understand it in New York. The big difference, I suppose, is that here, creativity is more
interesting. It’s another mentality.
I think what is interesting now, is to see how
many European designers want to go to New
York: Kim Jones, Bruno Pieters, and these are
just two new names I heard a couple of weeks
ago. There is this fascination with New York.
There are some European designers that go
there and it doesn’t work for them, they later
come back and are much more successful. And
then there are these American designers, who
are directors of European houses that work very
well. Of course, Tom Ford is no longer there but
he is the epitome of what it was all about.
Certainly, many American designers are successful in Europe. For example, Marc Jacobs for
Louis Vuitton is one of the biggest success stories of an American in Paris and, before that,
Tom Ford for Gucci. I don’t think there is an
equivalent in the United States.

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Angelo Flaccavento and Catherine Baba

Miguel Villalobos

Marc Jacobs

Bruno Pieters

Kim Jones

Dino Dinco and Diane Pernet

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Martin Webb

Rafael Jimenez and Diane Pernet

Kelly Cutrone and
Jeremy Scott

Paolo Andersson

Christian Lacroix (HyĂ¨res)

Robin Schulie and Maria Luisa of Maria Luisa

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What are the major differences between fashion
now and 20 years ago?
I think that fashion in the 80s was much more
open, more exciting and less regurgitating as it is
now. Fashion now should be something new and
not just a copy of something we have already
seen. I don’t get pleasure out of seeing so much
vintage clothing copied. I think that’s a pitfall
now. You can’t tell the difference between one
designer and the other... The shows aren’t the
same, but the clothes are similar. It is not the
most inspiring moment in fashion. I was talking
to a woman from Vogue and she was telling me
that in the 80s you didn’t have to have a really
big name behind you. Designers had a look and
people knew who it was. In the 80s, there was
also a boom with money. I was designing in New
York and there, independent designers were
never supported. Big business was the main

I like black. I like its sensuality.
Also, I grew up catholic and I always
had this attraction for nuns, priests
and religious orders.

focus. Nonetheless, I think there were more
people ready to expand with young talents, especially the Japanese. For me, as for many designers now, if I hadn’t had a license with a department
store in Tokyo, my business would have been
practically non-existent. It was the same situation for many designers, whether it was Bernard
Wilhelm or others. Now, you have Saudi Arabia
and the Middle East which are supporting new
talents. They’re like the new Japan.
Your look is timeless. Where do you get inspiration for it?
It’s my look. It is not like I looked in a book and
said “ok that’s the look for me”. It is something that
evolved. I had a fascination towards Sicilian widows. I like black. I like its sensuality. Also, I grew
up catholic and I always had this attraction for
nuns, priests and religious orders. My first husband died young, and I think that added one
aspect to it – not that I’m in mourning. Black is a
strong colour. I feel strong in it. I feel good in it.
You constantly meet a lot of people in your work.
Can you relate some of your favourite fashion
moments?
One of my favourite fashion moments was
meeting William Klein in Paris, at the 50 year
anniversary of photography for Vogue Paris.
There was an older man with a little camera.
He kept circling around me and taking pictures.
He had a twinkle in his eye. I felt like a butterfly. It was so unobtrusive and pleasant. I was
walking around looking at pictures and suddenly from behind me I heard, “I took that picture”. I turned around and there was William
Klein. I talked to him for a short while and that
was magic because I have so much respect for
him. He is one of my highlights.
On a different level, the guy who is now taking
the creative director position at Chloé, Paolo
Andersson. I met him when he was studying
French at the Sorbonne, twelve or thirteen years
ago. He had never studied fashion and he wanted
to really know it. Paolo had some talent and we
met for lunch. He showed me his sketches and I
said the talent and creativity were there. It probably needed more discipline. But he pursued it
and now he is creative director at Chloé! I met
him recently in Paris at the Crillon and he asked
me when we could meet for lunch so he could
show me his sketches. It was an inside joke.
Which contemporary artists do you really admire?
Vincent Gagliostro because I find his photographs and drawings penetrating. I love the
sense of humour of Matthieu Laurette, and his

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Fashionation by Ruben Toledo (You wear it well)

Manish Arora Show

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Vivienne Westwood (exhibition at the Young Museum, Valentino show. Photographed by von Sonny Vandevelde
San Francisco)

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view on society. Also the artist Maurizio
Cattelan because he does not take himself
seriously. I like the way he combines sculpture and performance.
You recently launched your project You wear it
well, a Fashion Film Festival. How did the idea
come to you?
The idea for the festival came from a film I
made on Gumball3000, an 18 minute long roadmovie. I sent it to my friend Dino Dinco in Los
Angeles. He said we should do one in L.A.
Nothing happened. Then, one of my contributors from Mexico City sent me a film of his. I
really liked it and posted it on my site. Dino
saw it and said, “what do you think? Let’s put
together a fashion film festival. We’ll start it in
L.A. because no one thinks of L.A. in terms of fashion”. So we want to make it a yearly event that
always starts in L.A. You Wear It Well is a travelling festival that will go around the globe for

Let’s put together a fashion film festival.
We’ll start it in L.A. because no one
thinks of L.A. in terms of fashion.

one year and then be born again with the next
edition. The highlight of all of that for me was
on 30 November. My films were screened at the
Guggenheim Museum, in Bilbao. We have been
invited back to screen our films during their
50th anniversary in 2008.
This Festival has the ambition to gather big
filmmakers from all parts of the world.
Today, I am working very hard on making the
second edition of the Fashion Film Festival in
July 2007 absolutely the best ever. And of course
I’d like some people like Pedro Almodovar,
David Lynch, and Wong Kar Wai. We are calling for films to be 30 seconds to five minutes
long.
For the first edition, the first person I thought
of was Ruben Toledo because 3-4 years ago, I
was in New York doing videos for Galeries
Lafayette. He was showing his half hour film,
called Fashionation, a brilliant animated film. I
immediately sent him an email, saying I wanted
him to show his film at my festival. I told him
we could do it in Los Angeles and he immediately said, “wow”. The other person was Marcelo
Krasilcic, a Brazilian filmmaker, so I also sent
him an email and asked him to make a film for
the festival. He answered me, “I think I would
love to do it but I would have to be at the same place
at the same time.” On 29 June I got a phone call
from him; he called to say that they had made
the film. “We did it for you, and we shot Chloé
Sévigny.” Then, we asked Jeremy Scott, Nick
Knight and others. But I need good sponsors
to do it, and a good assistant, a nice intern
who works for the experience. There is no
money in this.
What about the new website Iqons that you are
partnering with?
One of the co-founders is Rafael Jimenez.
He worked for eight years at Comme des
Garçons in sales and marketing. This fashion
website aims at creating a platform for everyone in the global fashion industry and gathers
designers, retailers, models, fashion PR professionals, photographers, stylists, financiers,
show producers, magazine publishers... anybody with an interest in fashion. The aim is for
people to connect, to show their work and to
start alternative networks across the world that
invigorate fashion globally.

Making the
impossible possible
When I meet these young talented designers
it seems they didn’t just start their own
design studio by accident. It looks like
they have big plans and always had them.
I get the feeling they want to conquer
the world and might even have a big chance
to succeed. The truth is that they planned
nothing. The company was born out of
naivety: 5.5 designers.
Interview by Merel Kokhuis. Photography by Thomas Mailaender.

It all starts in the summer of 2003. Vincent
Baranger (1980), Jean-Sébastian Blanc (1980),
Anthony Lebossé (1981) and Claire Renard
(1980) start an independent project (Réanim)
with the help of two friends. This project is
exhibited in a gallery in the south of France
which leads to publicity in a couple of magazines and newspapers. I want to find out
how this results in the success and fame
they have only 3.5 years later. What is their
secret?
Your name is very strong and easy to remember.
It reminds me of Chanel No 5. How did you
come up with this name?
We wanted a very generic name. The Réanim
project took two weeks. The first week we were
six people, the second week five. 5.5 is between
five and six, it’s as simple as that. Now that we use
the name we notice it’s very good because we are
always first in alphabetical lists.
That can’t be the main reason for your instant
success. Do you have any idea why everything
goes so smoothly?

I think it’s all based on our naivety. When we
started we didn’t think of the risks and we didn’t
know where we were going. We just live day by
day and accept an assignment if we think we
have a solution for the challenges we face.
Is this the philosophy of 5.5 designers, finding
solutions for challenges?
It’s hard to define a philosophy, but we think
we are not traditional product designers. We
don’t think in shapes, colours, materials and
dollars. We always want to tell a story. The
concept is always more important for us than
the result. We try to make existing good products even better, and then with a twist. We disturb and rebuild. For us, aesthetic isn’t the
main subject, the concept is. And if you do this
properly in the end the result is aesthetic as
well. Aesthetic is the conclusion of the concept. Because we use existing things, the shape,
colour or material is not an issue. We take the
challenge to make something good even better
with little smart changes. We want to offer a
new view on existing things. A good example is
the cooperation with Bernardaud. We spent
days in their factory to give the traditional
ceramic products a new dimension.
I find it easy to recognise a 5.5 design but at the
same time you don’t have just one style. Can you
explain this?
We don’t have a style like Zaha Hadid or Matali
Crasset. Every product of Zaha’s hand has the
same kind of shape and everything Matali makes
has rounded curves and bright colours like green,
pink, turquoise and purple. The similarity in our
projects/products is our philosophy.
I think you are member of a new generation of
designers. Not just because of this philosophy, but
also because of your age. When 5.5 designers was
established you were only 22 years old. Isn’t that
far too young to start a company?
Absolutely not. We think there are only benefits. We were not experienced but that’s positive.
We were not afraid to lose. We develop ourselves
and learn every day. We neither had a mortgage

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nor children yet, so we had no big responsibilities. That’s why we had the opportunity to take
risks. Besides, we are all very independent persons, which makes it probably more difficult to
work for a boss than in our own company no matter how inexperienced we were in the beginning.
Another benefit of starting so young is that we are
not copies of the designers we learned from. We
are self-made.
Does owning your own company at such a young
age interfere with the dreams you had in college?
Not at all. We didn’t have well-thought-out
dreams, except for the need to travel. Owning this
company only answers to that need instead of
blocking it. We now get the chance to travel a lot
and to learn about other cultures. This gives us
more and more inspiration every day. “If design
were not my profession, I would have been an adventurer”, says Claire Renard.

We know we can design bigger things,
like a plane for example. Hopefully other
people will soon realise this as well.

I presume your age is part of your success. People
find it interesting. Another interesting part is
the fact that you are a group, just like Front
Design from Sweden, Rita Rita Rita from
Canada and Big Game from Switzerland. I can
imagine that’s not the easiest way to work for
creative people like you.
It’s not more difficult than working alone. Perhaps it’s even easier. I think our synergy makes
our work richer. Working together so closely
makes us get to know ourselves better. We now
know our own strengths and weaknesses. We do
feel people’s curiosity about a split up. They think
this cooperation can’t last forever so they keep an
eye on us.
Working in a group normally requires strict
tasks for everyone. How do you manage this?
We force ourselves to do everything together.
We don’t want 5.5 designers to be a one man
show. Of course we have our own qualities, but
we want to keep the roles vague. In the beginning
we had trouble finding our own place in the team,
but now we accepted our personal disabilities and
we are like an oiled machine.
Can you describe the design process if we take the
wall stickers for Domestic as an example?
We received the briefing, talked about it shortly
and took the time (two weeks) to think about the
concept individually. Afterwards we sat together
for a brainstorm session and made an idea book.
We presented our work to Domestic together.
The person who was most interested in this
project and the person with enough time took
care of developing the stickers. But we always
made sure everybody was involved in every
important decision.
You don’t just work with Domestic but also with
Ligne Roset (lamp), Baccarat (glass), Arc International (tableware), La Corbeille (accessories),
etc. What did you do to get these assignments?
The funny thing is; we don’t do anything. Every
time we finish a project/product we get free publicity and after that new companies call us because
they want to work with us. We realise we are in a
very luxurious position and are still surprised that
we don’t have to contact manufacturers or editors
ourselves. The only reason for this must be that
people recognise our philosophy and find it interesting. They always contact us because they like
our previous projects, not because they give us a
strict briefing. We enjoy complete freedom.

Murano glass for a contest in Venice, 2007.

98

You start a project and afterwards your selfdesigned products from the project [>>ù101]

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Wall and floor stickers for Domestic, 2006.

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Exhibition of the Bernardaud project at
Droog Design in The Netherlands, 2007.

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06.04.2007 15:51:24 Uhr

[>>ù98] become autonomic products we can buy.
Smart thinking or coincidence?
We are very happy with this. We didn’t design
something that exists forever, yet. It’s always for
an event or exhibition. By selling the used products, we can give our work a longer life. We leave
tracks/traces.
Why do you always design temporary things?
This is not our choice. We would love to design
something that lasts longer. The bigger the better. We can’t wait to do the interior of a restaurant, hotel or shop. We know we can design
bigger things, like a plane for example. Hopefully,
others will soon realise this as well.
So one of your future dreams for the studio is to
design an airplane. Ambitious! What else do you
see for the future?
We have no clear vision for the future. Time
will tell. We only know what we don’t want, for
example to become a big studio and do ordinary
work like packaging design. We hope we can continue working with companies because they
choose our philosophy. Hopefully we never have
to accept unchallenging work. We think other
people can do this better than we can. The difficulty for us is that we need to keep finding the
balance between design studio and creator. We
don’t want to specialise in one area. After the
project with Arc we started working with Bernardaud. People thought we were tableware
designers, but we are multitasking. We want to
propose our ideas to companies, no matter what
kind of product they are specialised in.

source of ideas will be empty one day. The work
we do never stops. We not only work 24/7, we also
trust we’ll discover new inspiration every day, it’s
everywhere. Creation never ends. And we don’t see
the studio just as a job, it’s a passion, a way of life.
One last question, just because it’s so much fun to
ask. Who’s your favourite designer?
We don’t have one favourite designer. We will
always admire the work of Droog Design, the
institute from the Netherlands. They inspired every
single designer in Europe or even worldwide. We
do have a favourite design, though. But it’s not
what you expect. It’s a paperclip; so brilliant. One
will never design or invent a new paperclip. But a
new way to put paper together is possible.
5.5 designers won the following prizes:
Grand Prix de la création, 2006.
Heart of Venice, 2007.

One will never design or invent
a new paperclip but a new way to put
paper together is possible.

Is it true that you want to start the brand
5.5 editions?
Yes, we think 5.5 can be a brand because of the
recognition that people have with our products.
That way we can give our work the longer life we
wish. Another reason is that we always present a
lot of ideas after a briefing. Most of the time only
five out of 30 get produced. If we can produce and
sell our own products as a brand, we can develop
all the ideas that are not used by the companies
we work with. Companies think commercial so
they never choose our craziest proposal. We want
to give the crazy proposals a chance.
Are you never afraid the source of ideas will dry
up one day?
We still feel the urgent need to express our ideas.
We would become very unhappy if we were simply asked to design a chair. We want to solve problems. We don’t want to design a new chair, we want
to design a new way to sit. There is no fear the Scenography at Centre Pompidou, 2005.

Christina Chin /â&#x20AC;&#x2030;S Magazine
Christina Chin, fashion editor of S Magazine (Denmark).
After graduating from Parsons School of Design with a Fashion
Design Marketing degree, she worked along side stylist Patti Wilson
for three years, assisting on shoots by Steven Klein, David LaChapelle,
Paolo Reversi and others. Christina Chin contributes regularly
to Arena Homme Plus, Tank, Vogue Taiwan, Spanish Harpers Bazaar,
Squint, Neo2. She also works regularly as a stylist for actors and
musicians such as Nelly Furtado, Scarlett Johansson, Matt Dillon,
Joseph Gordan Levitt, Paul Bettany and Heather Graham.

Shoes by Pierre Hardy
(Photographed by Cameron Krone)

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Karen Langley / Dazed & Confused
Karen Langley, fashion editor at Dazed & Confused (UK) for the past two years,
previously held the position of assistant to the current Fashion Director,
Cathy Edwards. Karen studied fashion at Central Saint Martins, and is living in London.
“Favorite Spring / Summer 2007 piece? This is easy!
The snake skin Azzedine Alaïa heels with ankle straps. I love them!”

Heels by Azzedine Alaïa

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Karena Gupton Akhavein / B East Magazine
Karena Gupton Akhavein has been fashion editor of BEast Magazine (Estonia) for a year and a half.
In her past life she worked in fashion and luxury goods PR in NYC. Currently living in London, Karena is
also a painter, a writer, and a children’s clothing designer.
“This Spring/Summer we at BEast Magazine are all about technology: it’s the way of the future.
Metallic theme: Snap up American Apparel’s lamé leggings, which come in gold, silver, and copper,
for that luxury cyber look. Get the reversible necklace from Paris-based label Shaoo, in silver, black
and gold leather: designs reminiscent of lace or Chinese latticework, creating a piece that is both super
modern and traditional. And finally the most sinfully luxurious accessory you could ever want, a perfect
combination of nature and the best science has to offer: Zagliani’s metallic snakeskin or crocodile
overnight bags and satchels. How do they get the skin so buttery soft, you ask? They inject them
with silicone, of course. This handbag will age better than you could ever hope.”

Bags by Zagliani

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Peter Kellett / Plastic Rhino Magazine
Peter Kellett, creative director of Peppered Sprout – the publisher of Plastic Rhino Magazine
(UK), Polished T and Artvandalay, established Peppered Sprout 3 years ago with business
partner Chris Morris. Peppered Sprout has studios in both Liverpool and London.
“We would be delighted to offer our/my item for s/s 07. It’s got to be the Puma GV re-launch!
Hooked with slacks (charity store) and any pull.”

Sneakers by Puma GV

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Rachael Morgan / Dansk Magazine
Rachael Morgan is the executive editor of Dansk Magazine, Denmark’s first
and leading international fashion magazine. Since 1998, Rachael has worked
as head booker for Elite Copenhagen. She also previously worked as a journalist
and editor at an English language Danish newspaper and as a freelance
copywriter and consultant for Danish and international fashion, advertising
and lifestyle based companies.
“I love Scorah Pattullo’s fabulous chocolate lambskin Helen heels, Danish designer
By Malene Birger black leather knotty belt, Julie Sandlau’s set of 5 bracelets in
gold and anything from Noir’s collection!”

Clothes by Noir

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Jeanette Hepp / Sleek Magazine
Jeanette Hepp, fashion & art editor for Sleek Magazine (Germany), lives in
Berlin where she settled in 2002 to study fashion design. During her studies
she worked with Wendy & Jim in both Vienna and Paris. She has been part
of the editorial team of Sleek Magazine since 2005. She has been publishedâ&#x20AC;&#x2030;/â&#x20AC;&#x2030;
contributed in magazines like dealer de luxe, collezioni, b-guided, the room
and vice magazine.

Sandals, pumps and summer
boots by Anita Moser

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Stéphanie Dumont / Carl’s Cars Magazine
Stéphanie Dumont, creative director and co-founder of Carl’s Cars Magazine (Norway) since 2001,
also happens to be the French champion in speed skating and was a member of the French speed
skating team during the Calgary Olympic Games. In the nineties she was art director and creative
director of advertising agencies in Oslo/London.
“My style has been somehow influenced by the fact that a third person has been growing in my
stomach for the last months. I therefore tend to wear a lot of variations of the short baby-doll dress,
in different colors, fabrics and patterns. Thankfully I’m very lucky with this season’s collections
of tunica and short dresses, from A.P.C. to Stella McCartney. Combined with either flat ballerinas,
wedges or stiletto sandals, it always works. Bliss!”

Bubble dress by
Hussein Chalayan
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Irene Rukerebuka / Rant Magazine
Irene Rukerebuka started Rant Magazine (UK) in 2003 and has since been working
as its editor, director and designer. She also works as a photographer, stylist, writer
and freelances for Topshop. She is currently designing for the singer Corinne Bailey
Rae at EMI records. Irene also styled for Selfridges and organized large scale shows
in abandoned buildings with support from Leviâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s.

Pekka Toivonen / Kasino Magazine
Pekka Toivonen works as the editor of the international style magazine Kasino A4
(Finland) which was conceived in 2005. This black and white bi-annual magazine
is based in Helsinki and mixes modern ideas with classic style. Kasino A4’s attitude
is aggressive melancholy.
“Kasino’s Spring/Summer theme: Expand it!
SS07: everything’s getting even more confused. Styles are collapsing together,
and measures have never been more insane. The more you exaggerate the better.
From hoodies (Daniel Pallillo) to coats & bags (Tiger of Sweden), everything is huge –
except your average indie band’s pants. A little bit of this and that still exists
as the main thesis, so don’t forget to mix across genres and gender. This season,
everybody can have a bow – wherever they want to.”

Mix across genres and gender
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Robert Serek / A4 magazine
Robert Serek started his collaboration with A4 magazine (Poland)
four years ago and has been its fashion editor for the past three
years. In 2004 he started his journey with high fashion opening
a Comme des Garçons guerrilla store in Warsaw, where he has lived
for the past 14 years. Since then he has brought other mavericks
of fashion to Poland such as: Undercover, Martin Margiela and
Raf Simons. After 2 editions in Warsaw he opened the first guerrilla
store in Kracow in March 2007. In the past he almost finished
his PHD in demography and was an academic teacher of statistics
and demography for 10 years at the Warsaw School of Economics.
His travels have taken him to many places across the globe.

a point of view on fashion shoots rather than a fashion shoot
Fashion... first conceived as an idea and then
translated into an image in the mind... finally
transferred onto the page as an image...
the object of fashion photography?... the
model... the space... the choreography of
the image... the situation portrayed in the
framing... fashion items... an attempt of the
photographer to transform photography into
an art work... fashion image?... a particular
expression of a particular person in a particular space through the use of particular fashion
items... a ceaseless yearning of the viewer to
copy, to imitate what can never be achieved...
to be in that exact setting, to be that exact
person... or… personalizing the expression
reflected by the fashion items... to imagine...
“images” of the background locations... presence of an absence in the “images”... to “imagine” the presence of the fashion items ... to
cognitively interact with the fashion items...
placing in the foreground what is pushed
to the background... “to read” fashion in
the text... unfolding layers… revealing… the
viewer personalizing the expression created
by the fashion items through imagination...

fashion of the twenty-first century?...“clothes
should be different on each person: sometimes too small,
often large enough to let the air flow between the body and
the garment leaving the imagination free to guess the shape
of the body inside.” Yohji Yamamoto… melting together the trends of the past and of the
future into the present… present tense…
real… virtual… surfing on the internet…
e-bay… style.com… usluairlines.com… google
images… hyperlinks… surfing in pages…
magazines… books… catalogues… fashion
boutiques… wardrobes… silent colours… the
absence of silence... mute… whispering…
spaces in-between… silence hidden in the
“ma” between the objects… invisible light…
reposing… silence that knows too much…
bringing together… layering… encounters…
intimate spaces… breathing spaces… enveloping air… inflating… floating… introverted… rounded… linear… fading… open
forms… sensuous… sensing… expressing
quietly… wiping out traces… acceptance of
absence… sound of absence… liquefaction…
transformation… Spring / Summer 2007…
enjoy the silence…

Imagine... she is there standing sideways on the right of the two-storey rectangular object... facing

left... she is leaning her body‘s front side softly on the object’s right plane as if lying on a perpendicular bed... her
arms are hanging loose by her sides... her head reposes on top of the object as if on a pillow, facing back... there
is a mute inter-space left between her body and the object... she is wearing a strapless dress which reveals only
the curvatures of her left arm and shoulder... her neck is covered by her ponytail... the dress she is wearing looks
at first sight like a green balloon deflated in time... the complexity of this dress is suspended in its plain look...
fluid and elegant... she is wearing the Jill Sander Spring/Summer 2007, strapless full-length one piece dress... the
dress leaves her arms and shoulders bare... the dress is bright fluorescent green… its colour dissolves in the
colour of the space as the lights suppress the green... the dress is made of thin but heavy weight material with
a silky touch on her skin... the surface of the dress‘s material is smooth... its fabric is pleated on the front and the
back centre of its strapless belt with invisible stitches... it hangs loosely inflating the dress as its downfall tapers
at the ankles... this voluminous dress conceals her body‘s curvatures only revealing a soft and rounded silhouette... the volume of air enveloped inside is in constant change... only a whispering sound of the dress is heard
vaguely in the silence of the space...

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Imagine...

she is there lying on her back... inside the concave space between the objects in the

centre... facing left with her body… her face remains hidden… her right arm reaching up… right hand holding
onto the high corner of the object on her right... the soles of her feet on the floor... her knees bent... her body is
covered under a “Turkish sea” blue sheet... it is a multi-functional piece by Yasemin Baydar 2007... made of midweight cotton knit fabric... the front and back pieces of a sleeveless xx-large sweatshirt are attached to each
other by a single rib knit ribbon on the hemlines... they are not stitched to each other on the sides or on the
shoulders... a flat, open form... the hemlines of the front and back pieces are stitched along the centre of a very
long ribbon... the ribbon has a small horizontal incision in the centre... the incision is shorter than the hemlines’
length... ribbons of the same fabric run along the necklines of both the back and front pieces... the ribbons
exceed the necklines and become straps... the surface of the fabric on the back piece is sliced horizontally with a
single cut... rending the fabric’s skin... breaking the membrane of two dimensionality... highlighting the space
behind... the space between the body and the garment... Z is slashed on the surface of the front piece like Zorro’s
trademark... Lucio Fontana encounters Maurizio Cattelan who pays an ironical homage to Fontana... 60s encounters 90s in 2000... the piece silently salutes both artists...

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Imagine... she is there on the floor by the right wall... she is leaning her back on the wall... her legs are
stretched in front on the floor side by side... her right arm rests closely by her right side... her body is slightly tilted

to her left... she looks like a lifeless doll that is captured motionless in the moment just before it falls down on its
left side... the surface of her left forearm and her hand on the floor hold the whole tension of her body‘s weight...
she is wearing an evening dress which appears to be floating in the air… it is as if this dress is pulling her body
up from the floor but she is suspended in this silent tension between the gravity of the floor and the floating of
the dress... she is wearing the Lanvin Spring/Summer 2007 halter-neck dress... the hemline of the dress falls just
below her knee... its fabric is a mixture of silk and lurex with silver tinsel... some parts of this lamé dress dissolve
into darkness, while some parts on its surface glitter... a zip fastening runs down its back... the dress is so light
that even where it touches her skin she feels vulnerably exposed rather than covered... its straps are made from
the same fabric and they tie at the back of her neck... a tightly pleated panel is placed on the dress’s low slit
v-neck which is pulled up by the straps... this rather stiff panel with a futuristic Greek draping around it, curves
up and away from her bust... along with the panel, the tapering of the dress at the hemline creates a 3-dimensional volume inside the dress’s surface on the front... this 3-dimensional space holds the secret of her body’s
form... when she moves, a low trembling metallic noise is heard from the dress...

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Imagine... she is there in the centre... standing sideways facing right... she is bending her torso down

from her waist in a 30Âş angle... her right arm above the elbow is parallel to her torso while her forearm hangs
down... her left arm is wrapped around her head... she is holding one end of a rope in her left hand just above her
head... the rope is wrapped around her waist, passing through the space under her right armpit, reaching up to
her left hand... there are rectangular pleated pieces of cloth in varying sizes sewn to the rope... a small rectangular
piece with three layers hides her face while another covers her chest... it is a piece by Bruno Pieters, 2004... this
piece is a long waistband with many buttons and buttonholes... pleated paper-like cotton pieces with varying
widths and lengths are layered on each other in bundles along the waistband... it has a balm like â&#x20AC;&#x153;after darkâ&#x20AC;?
black coating... the waistband and the pleated pieces are of the same rigid fabric... she feels safe... it wraps air
inside and keeps it safe, covered with multiple layers... it always leaves a breathing space between the pleated
folds, between the overlapping layers... the pleats are very disciplined... sharp... clean-cut edges... the top layers
lift up as the piece gets wrapped around... this uncommon piece mutters something but the words are
inarticulate...

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Imagine... she is there sitting on the first level of the dark platform... in the centre... facing front... her

body above the waist is tilted to her right side... her head is resting on top of the platform behind her... there is
something bundled like a pillow under her head... some fabric... her hands on her knees... her calves hanging
down... her right sole touches the floor, while her left is perpendicular to it... there is a reluctant tension between
the right and left halves of her body... her shoulders appear bare... her cleavage down to almost her bellybutton
appears bare... yet she is wearing a shirt... cloud dancer white... it is the Viktor&Rolf Springâ&#x20AC;&#x2030;/â&#x20AC;&#x2030;Summer 2007 shirt...
with tricky zigzags, a transparent flesh coloured lycra fabric around the collar and down through her cleavage
suggests nudity... but this fabric is holding back a white shirt from its downfall... nudity is silenced and it is rather
her bodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s silhouette that appears to be pushed down along with the white shirt... sharp... frivolous but complicated... elegant and romantic... romanticizing modernity... under her head in a bundle is the Viktor&Rolf Spring/
Summer 2007 pants... it is another piece creating a dreamy illusion... straight-slim cut cotton trousers that disappear towards the legs... fading from peat black to castor grey... from castor grey to elephant skin... from elephant
skin to flint grey... from flint grey to silver cloud... dissolving into air... foggy and dusted... the vision gets blurred...
the absence of sound gives an illusion of silence...

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06.04.2007 15:54:34 Uhr

Imagine... she is sitting sideways on the right corner of the object... facing right... she is slightly lean-

ing down... it is as if she is trying to look at something... only her right arm and her right leg as it reaches down
to the floor can be seen... her profile and her torso are covered under what appears to be a caviar black armour...
with her left arm stretched up she is holding the hemline of a skirt... the skirt prolonged along the straight line
of her back and her arm, comes down in a half circle... through the waistband of the skirt, her right arm is coming
out... it is a tailor-made, flare ballroom skirt from the 40s... hemline just below the knee... fitted waist, the skirt is
made up of more than 100 triangular silk taffeta fabric pieces sewn side by side... while the skirt makes a round
silhouette, its fabric creates sharp forms in space... there are hidden but clean and careful stitches... in the
absence of an original belt, the skirt now has a raw cut waistband... this absence is intensified with traces of
stitch-holes... it has a zip fastening on the side... motion is arrested inside the rigid folds of the skirt... the straight
lines of the skirt layer on top of each other creating ruptures... deconstructionism silences constructionism...
only a low rustling sound is heard...

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147

06.04.2007 15:54:58 Uhr

Imagine...

she is there lying over the pile in the centre... she is lying on her right side... her body is

twisted... her legs are not seen... only her torso... her left shoulder... her right arm and head pulled down by the
gravity of the empty space... the rest hidden behind the pile... her left shoulder is partially covered with a black
cropped cloth... it looks like pieces of different black clothes are thrown over her in a bundle... as if to terminate
the convulsion of her body... it is the Comme Des GarĂ§ons 2004 black jacket... its black ranges from night shade
to raven... this 40s style cropped cotton jacket has silk insets and sheer ethereal shawl bits... the jacket closes at
the waist with a hook and eye... it has a slightly asymmetrical fit... though very subtle around the bust... the
jacket is an encounter of three different models... its backside has different styled jacket cuts layered on top of
each other... leaving graphical traces of the stitches... its backside is made up of only one fabric... cotton... on the
front side of its sleeves there are asymmetrical silk fabric pieces... the combination of different fabrics and
shades of black gives the jacket an animated appearance... however it is introverted... the jacket looks
tailor-made... unique... its front piece is slightly longer than its back piece... different collars made from different
fabrics are layered on top of each other... shiny, matt, transparent... sometimes like a shawl... sometimes very
geometrical... shades of black wipe out the jacketâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sound... no form can be identified...

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06.04.2007 15:55:46 Uhr

Imagine... she is there sitting on the upper right corner of the low platform... her weight suspended on

the edge... she is facing backwards... staring at the reserved darkness... her arms are lifted up slightly from the
shoulders... fingers pointing to the floor... it is as if she is surrendering to eternity... only her back is seen through
the phantom black chiffon... no zip line is seen on her back... she is wearing the Martine Sitbon 2002 batwing
sleeve chiffon blouse... the front side of the blouse is covering her back... revealing her flesh through the black
transparency... the blouse has a round neckline... soft silky fabric borders the neckline and makes a small upsidedown rounded triangle on the front of the blouse... the silk is opaque matt... thick lines of the same fabric stripe
down both sleeves... there is a hidden zip fastening down the blousesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; back... the hemline tapers and fits just
below the hips... the chiffon fabric sewn to the epaulet-like panels on the sleeves, hangs down like drapery...
loose chiffon batwings... inside this fragile blouse, the wind falls asleep...

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149

06.04.2007 15:56:11 Uhr

Imagine... she is there behind the dark horizontal object... standing sideways... facing left... her knees

slightly bent... her head levelling the height of the other object on the left... a stagnant profile... her neck and her
left arm just down to her elbow are seen... the rest hidden behind the darkness... it appears as if she is wearing
an off shoulder t-shirt... covered with a transparent layer... the t-shirt inside is bundled on the shoulder under its
transparent cover... it also makes her appear hunched as it bundles at her back... the t-shirt comes down to her
hips... it fits tightly trapped inside the transparent layer... she is wearing the Martin Margiela 1994 piece... it is a
combination of two pieces... a moon mist grey sleeveless t-shirt... and a â&#x20AC;&#x153;sand-shellâ&#x20AC;? long sleeve, tightly fitting
fishnet body on top... the fishnet body with small patterns, while trapping the cotton t-shirt inside, leaves
breathing space through its tiny pores... the over size t-shirt has a wide rounded collar... it fits her body wrinkling
and bundling here and there... searching for a place to rest trapped inside the fishnet... its loose left shoulder is
arrested by the fishnet on her arm... the t-shirt is transformed into an off shoulder t-shirt... wrinkled irregularly
inside its cage, it gives an impression of a faulty creation... the fishnet body on top has a smooth and fine
surface... the fishnet surface fits tightly on her body... her bodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s silhouette is transformed with wrinkled fabric
inside the transparent shell... this mismatched layering creates mute shadows...

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06.04.2007 15:57:03 Uhr

Imagine... she is there just behind the pile... on the right corner... standing upright... facing front... her

arms slightly open from the shoulders... forearms lifted up... on both hands she is holding the ends of a white

cloth... her head is bowed down... the cloth is caught in the centre under her chin... she is pressing her chin tightly
on her chest... the cloth falls down irregularly... the irregular white form and her arms appear like the wings of a
seagull... there are blue shades on the cloth... the blue ice cubes strung around her neck are melting... she is holding in her hands the white wrap around Martin Margiela 2000 skirt... made up of two different fabrics... satin
and viscose... it has a wide satin waistband... down the waistband there are rectangular viscose fabrics in varying
lengths and widths stitched to each other... as it is wrapped around, different shapes layer on top of each other...
long and short... wide and narrow... it has a raw cut hemline... an irregular downfall... sometimes below the
knee... sometimes above... it is voluminous... quivering waves appear on its surface... the skirt is playful but
speechless... the Martin Margiela 2006 ice necklace on her neck is made up of ice cubes with blue textile dye...
cyan blue... the melting of ice leaves its blue traces on the skirt... one expects to hear the cracking of ice as it
melts, though only a shiver is felt and no sound heard...

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151

06.04.2007 15:57:27 Uhr

enjoy the silence... Making of

Model selection

Make-up team is making choices
for the shoot

choosing the clothing

setting up the studio

Photographer: Ahmet Elhan

Preparing the credits

152

Wardrobe for the shoot

Model: Ayse Orhon

Reviewing the pictures

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06.04.2007 15:59:07 Uhr

Model...

she is 30 years old... she has a tall

and slender but robust figure... the bone structure of
her face is what initially catches your attention... she
has a long neck and an oval face... fair, pastel rose
complexion and straight ash brown hair with natural
shades of dark blonde... above her slant up cocoa
brown eyes, she has curved medium eyebrows, a tone
darker than her hair... thick curled eyelashes... there is
an intense but soothing expression in her eyes... she
has a small nose, convex but soft... the strongest feature of her face are her high cheekbones... her full

Hair... -Alterna- Hemp line products are used

down-turned peach blossom lips... her jaw is vaguely
wide... she has a narrow chin and on the left side of

for hair styling... her hair is pulled back in a tight but

which there is a tiny scar... small, high ears... a muscu-

low ponytail... no hair band is used... the base of her

lar, up-right figure... long muscular arms and legs...

ponytail is dyed with shades of shocking pink... her

rather broad shoulders... slightly flat chest... narrow

hair on the neckline is shaved... along the left side of

waist and hips, hips tapering only slightly from the

her forehead her hair is shaved irregularly in small

waist... when she moves, it is as if her body silently

triangular shapes...

envelopes the space around her...

Make-up... -Shiseido- The Skincare Foam,

Hydro-Refining Softener, Visible Luminizer Serum, The

Skincare Day Moisturizer, Matifying Stick and BOP Eye
Contour Cream are applied oh her face in order of
appearance as preparation for the make-up... her
make-up is done using -Uslu Airlines- airbrush makeup system air(o)pack, liquid colours, loose powders
and concealers... the make-up achieves an effect of
varying sun-tanning on the face... her face has a gradient colour with ranging shades of exposure to sun
(Pantone 699, Pantone 170, Pantone 169, Pantone 204,
Pantone 501)... the same make-up is applied on both
of her arms... â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Pantone 3145â&#x20AC;&#x2122; liquid colour is airbrushed
on the inner side of her eye socket... -Shiseido- after
make-up Soothing Spray is used for finish...

27-30.04.
22e Festival International
de Mode et de Photographie
A HyEres

The dynamic, lively atmosphere so
typical of laboratories, ateliers and
research centers, a vessel filled with
stimuli and entertainment, plus the
best Italian and international creatives
– up-and-coming designers and wellestablished companies – taking the
stage in front of an audience of operators and enthusiasts who are highly
responsive to experimentation,
originality and product quality.
Milano (Italy)
Web: www.pittimmagine.com

Through parallel fashion and photo­
graphy competitions, the Festival
International de Mode et de Photographie à Hyères, directed by Jean-Pierre
Blanc since its creation 20 years ago,
gathers every year under the spotlight
ten young fashion designers and ten
young photographers under the patronage of an international jury.
An observatory of trends as well as an
international launching pad, the Hyères
festival has show-cased, more than
300 first-time collections by new fashion
designers from all over the world and
exhibited the works of over 80 young
and innovative photographers.
Hyères (France)
Web: www.villanoailles-hyeres.com

May 2007
21.04-27.05.
Dysfashional

Dysfashional, devoted to fashion, is not
a traditional exhibition. It displays not
clothes, but all the elements that make
fashion a means of representing oneself and of displacing one’s identity.
To tackle an area that is as frivolous as
it is essential, it brings into play a vision
of fashion by artists from various
backgrounds. In a streamlined design,
the installations of Hussein Chalayan,
Martin Margiela, Bless, Sissel Tolaas,
Jerszi Seymour and others will be
exhibited.
Luxembourg (Luxembourg)
Web: www.anomos.org/mosign/
dysfashional.htm

234

Graphic / Typo
18-23.04.
Salone Internazionale
del Mobile

Milan International Furniture show
will be an extra special edition, not just
because of the quality of the goods
being showcased, but because it will
also see the return of Euroluce,
together with three high calibre collateral events. Of the three collateral
events, two will be devoted to light – in
synergy with the exhibition itself – and
will involve the city of Milan, and the
third will be dedicated to the metaphor
of the home and living.
Milano (Italy)
Web: www.cosmit.it

17-19.05.
Typo Berlin 2007 –
12 th International Design
Conference

The largest design event in Europe,
it is interdisciplinary, open-minded,
and outward looking. It offers an annual
focus, and a combination of presentations, lectures, and panel discussions.
It is a showcase for graphic, motion, web,
game, typography, sound, corporate
and boundless design, from all over the
world, compacted and condensed into a
3-day program, in three parallel series of
discussion themes.
Berlin (Germany)
Web: www.typoberlin.de

20-25.05.
International Poster
and Graphic Arts Festival
of Chaumont

After acknowledging the work of major
20th European figures of graphic design,
the 2007 Festival crosses the Atlantic to
present Paul Rand’s work, one of the
modern American designers.
He elaborated numbers of posters,
children books, logos, visual identities
that have become international standards such as for the American computer company IBM, Westinghouse, ABC
broadcast or the international shipping
company UPS to name a few. Each year
the presentation at the Garage is
dedicated to discover the novelties of
the European graphic field. After London, Arnhem and Berlin, the Festival will
highlight the French scene. Etienne
Hervy and Vanina Pinter have selected
a large panel of studios and free-lance
graphic designers to present the energetic and eclectic French scene
throughout an unusual setting.
Graphic design is a collaborating art,
mixing all sorts of disciplines from
contemporary art to fashion and performing arts. For the 2007 Chaumont
Poster Festival, Alex Jordan (co-artistic
director) explores the contemporary
poster collection of Chaumont and
highlights the privileged relationship
between graphic design and photography. Seven Ateliers-Workshops, also
dealing with the social issue “Global
Warming”, will welcome 105 students
from all around the world.
Chaumont (France)
Web: www.ville-chaumont.fr/
festival-affiches

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10.04.2007 11:30:41 Uhr

Design
Exhibitions
08-11.05.
Interzum Design Fair

Interzum 2007 will present the latest
developments and visions in a unique
show. On display will be everything
from materials and supplier parts
for furniture production and interiors.
Cologne (Germany)
Web: www.interzum.com

10-13.05.
Copenhagen International
Furniture Fair

The fair will place the focus on international and Scandinavian design.
The entire city of Copenhagen will be
swarming with design during the fair,
as Copenhagen Architecture & Design
Days is taking place at the same time.
Copenhagen (Denmark)
Web: www.furniturefair.dk

Ends 28.05.
Marimekko –
the story of a Nordic brand

Fashion
02-06.05.
Fashion Week Zagreb

The only international fashion event
which presents designer collections
for the next season, gathers most
of eminent Croatian designers and
foreign guests.
Zagreb (Croatia)
Web: www.fashionweekzagreb.com

03.03.-03.06.
David Lynch: The Air is on Fire

An exhibition dedicated to the multifaceted visual art creations of David Lynch.
It is the first time the film maker has
made his photographs, drawings,
alternative films, sound productions
available to the public. Installed in an
environment designed by him, it is
complemented by a series of nomadic
events, including concerts and projections that he created.
Paris (France)
Web: www.fondation.cartier.fr/flash.html

Marimekko is Finland’s famous textile
and design company. Marimekko’s
colourful textiles for furniture and
fashion design has been known all over
the world and contri­buted to the 1950s
– 1960s revolution of modern printed
textiles and fashion design. The exhibition presents the development of more
than 50 years and shows designs from
the entire period.
Copenhagen (Denmark)
Web: www.kunstindustrimuseet.dk

Ends 20.05.
Is this fiction?

19-22.05.
ICFF-Int. Contemporary
Furniture Fair

More than 600 exhibitors will display
contemporary furniture, seating, carpet
and flooring, lighting, outdoor furniture,
materials, wall coverings, accessories,
textiles, and kitchen and bath for
residential and commercial interiors.
This assemblage of national and international exhibitors affords the chance
to experience the most selective scope
of the globe’s finest, most creative,
individual, and original avant-garde
home and contract products – handily
and temptingly showcased in one venue.
New York (USA)
Web: www.icff.com

Ends 04.05.
Australian Fashion Week

AFW is an industry only event,
made accessible to registered
buyers, media and other fashion
industry representatives.
Sydney (Australia)
Web: www.afw.com.au

27-29.05.
Moda Prima

Fashion and accessories shows,
gathering international exhibitors.
Fashion Cube is an area dedicated
to future trends.
Milan (Italy)
Web: www.pittimmagine.com

The selected video works by
Simone Aaberg Kaern (Denmark),
Narda Alvarado (Bolivia), Esra Ersen
(Turkey) and Johan Grimonprez
(Belgium) propose a reflection on how
we understand and deal with social
realities when trying to document
them. We all determine our own ways
of reading and understanding reality.
What, then is a document? Can art
possibly represent certainty? Is truth
purely a matter of context? Is reality
just a matter of observation or is
observation itself producing reality?
The selected artists and projects
shown here raise these and other
relevant questions about the purpose
and status of photographic and video
images and put into question our
common acceptance of them as factual
proof.
Istanbul (Turkey)
Web: www.istanbulmodern.org

24.05.-24.09.
Tomorrow now:
Design & Science fiction

Conceived by Alexandra Midal and
Björn Dahlström in collaboration with
Pierre Bismuth and Michel Gondry,
Tomorrow Now investigates the subject
of science-fiction not merely associated
with the omnipotence of anticipation
and futuristic predictions, but in its
coincidence with the emergence of
furniture design discipline. The exhibition, homage to Hugo Gernsback, inventor of science fiction, explores
decoration elements as well as design
itself, the standardized products as well
as conceptual architecture, the most
contemporary forms in art as well as
the most daring innovations in design.
Luxembourg (Luxembourg)
Web: www.mudam.lu

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235

10.04.2007 11:30:53 Uhr

Auctions

15-16.05.
Contemporary Art

The Contemporary Department at
Sotheby’s focuses on a diverse range
of artists and schools from early
Abstract Expressionism through today.
The sales typically include fine paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures
and installations from nearly every
notable Contemporary movement
of the 20th and 21st centuries.
New York (USA)
Web: www.sothebys.com

01-02.05.
Prints & Multiples

Christie’s offers original limited edition
prints by leading artists, such as Picasso,
Chagall, Matisse, Miro, and Warhol.
Sales in New York feature major 19th and
20th century prints and books and threedimensional multiples. The London
sales also include Old Master prints.
New York (USA)
Web: www.christies.com

Impressionist and Modern Art auctions
offer European art from the late
19th century to the end of World War II.
London and New York sales include
the work of artists from all major
movements - Impressionism, postImpressionism, Cubism, Fauvism,
Dada and Surrealism, German
Expressionism, and Italian Futurism.
New York (USA)
Web: www.sothebys.com

236

Sotheby’s sales feature works made in
the early 20th century or earlier for ritual
or ceremonial use within the traditional
cultures of sub-Saharan Africa, Australia,
Melanesia, Polynesia, Micronesia and
Indonesia including masks, figurative
sculpture, architectural fragments,
amulets and jewelry, ancient metal
work, and functional objects such as
furniture, house posts, terracotta and
wooden vessels, staffs, and some
weapons.
New York (USA)
Web: www.sothebys.com

21.05.
Post war & contemporary art

16-17.05.
Post war & contemporary art

The post-World War II period from
1945 until 1970 is recognized as one
of the most creative periods of the
20th century, spanning movements from
Abstract Expressionism in New York in
the 1940s to Pop Art that was popular
mainly in England and the Untied
States (from late 1950s to early 1970s).
Works of artists who flourished in the
late 1940s, 1950s and 1960s are typically
featured in Christie’s twice-yearly sales
in London and New York.
New York (USA)
Web: www.christies.com

The post-World War II period from 1945
until 1970 is recognized as one of the
most creative period f the 20th century,
spanning movements from Abstract
Expressionism in New York in the 1940s
to Pop Art that was popular mainly in
England and the Untied States (from
late 1950s to early 1970s). Works of
artists who flourished in the late 1940s,
1950s and 1960s are typically featured
in Christie’s twice-yearly sales in London
and New York.
Milan (Italy)
Web: www.christies.com

The Impressionist & Modern Art
Department offers paintings, sculptures
and works on paper by the foremost
artists of the late 19th century and first
half of the 20th century. Artists included
are Cézanne, Giacometti, Matisse,
Monet, Picasso, Van Gogh and all those
who forged artistic movements such as
Impressionism, Fauvism, Cubism and
Surrealism.
New York (USA)
Web: www.christies.com

The Modern and Contemporary Southeast Asian Art sale offers a diverse
visual aesthetic representative of the
myriad cultures within the region.
A contemporary visual language is
rapidly developing, in which artists are
constantly exploring and creating their
own unique vocabulary across all
disciplines.
Hong Kong (China)
Web: www.christies.com

22.05.
Modern & Contemporary Art

The Contemporary Department at
Sotheby’s focuses on a diverse range
of artists and schools from early
Abstract Expressionism through today.
The sales typically include fine paintings,
drawings, photographs, sculptures
and installations from nearly every
notable Contemporary movement
of the 20th and 21st centuries
Milan (Italy)
Web: www.sothebys.com

The Contemporary Department at
Sotheby’s focuses on a diverse range
of artists and schools from early
Abstract Expressionism through today.
The sales typically include fine paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures
and installations from nearly every
notable Contemporary movement
of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Paris (France)
Web: www.sothebys.com

30.05.
Film Entertainment
Memorabilia

Entertainment memorabilia is a diverse
category that ranges from film props
and costumes worn by Hollywood icons,
vintage guitars and handwritten lyrics
by music legends, to animation art and
film posters. Such items have contributed to the delight of generations, and
helped build a worldwide collectors’
market. In the last two decades, Christie’s
has sold memorabilia ranging from
Bette Davis’ Academy Award for Jezebel
to the sled from Citizen Kane.
New York (USA)
Web: www.christies.com

30.05.
Un regard sur la
photographie

Unrivalled expertise, a close awareness
of market trends and exceptional client
care have made Christie’s the world
market leader in the field of photograph auctions. Capturing over half
of the global auction market in 2005,
the Photographs Department is led by
Philippe Garner and Joshua Holdeman
who share over 47 years’ experience.
Paris (France)
Web: www.christies.com

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26_agenda_korr.indd 236

10.04.2007 11:31:06 Uhr

06.06. – 02.09.
All in the present
must be transformed:
MATTHEW BARNEY & JOSEPH BEUYS

31.05.
Photographs

Unrivalled expertise, a close awareness
of market trends and exceptional client
care have made Christie’s the world
market leader in the field of photograph auctions. Capturing over half
of the global auction market in 2005,
the Photographs Department is led by
Philippe Garner and Joshua Holdeman
who share over 47 years’ experience.
London (UK)
Web: www.christies.com

Matthew Barney and Joseph Beuys’ will
examine key affinities between the
two artists, who, though separated by
generation and geography, share many
aesthetic and conceptual concerns.
The exhibition will focus on their
metaphoric use of materials, their
interest in metamorphosis, their
employment of narrative structures,
and the relationship between action
and documentation in their work.
Venice (Italy)
Web: www.guggenheim-venice.it/
inglese/exhibitions/prossimamente.html

The international art show features
about 300 leading art galleries from
30 countries on all continents.
Art Basel is the world’s premier
modern and contemporary art fair.
20th - and 21st-century art works by
over 2000 artists will be on display.
55000 art collectors, art dealers,
artists, curators and art lovers attend
the annual meeting place of the art
community.
Basel (Switzerland)
Web: www.artbasel.com

The 20th Century Decorative Art and
Design Department sells a range of
property including furniture, sculpture,
ceramics, metal works, and lighting
from the Art Nouveau, Arts & Crafts,
Art Deco, Modernist and Contemporary
movements.
Amsterdam (The Netherlands) &
New York (USA) & London (UK)
Web: www.christies.com

06.06.
Prints & Photographs

Christie’s offers original limited edition
prints by leading artists, such as Picasso,
Chagall, Matisse, Miro, and Warhol.
Sales in New York feature major 19th and
20th century prints and books and threedimensional multiples. The London
sales also include Old Master prints.
London (UK)
Web: www.christies.com

06.06.
Islamic art &
Oriental paintings

The first appearance of this exciting
new category was at the inaugural sale
of Christie’s Dubai in May 2006, where
it exceeded all expectations. Christie’s
Dubai sales feature works from across
the Arab world and Iran, including
artists from countries as diverse as
Morocco through to Sudan and from
Syria to Saudi Arabia. If the geographical
scope is immense, so too are the variety
of styles and influences - from works
of art based on the Arabic or Persian
letterform to abstract and figural
paintings through to contemporary
photography and sculpture. With
increasing interest both from within
the Middle East and globally, this
category is certainly one to watch.
Paris (France)
Web: www.christies.com

07.06.
20th century Fashion

The Textiles Department features items
from all over the world, including
European, Islamic, Indian and Asian
Costume, textiles and accessories.
Islamic and Indian sales in the autumn
and spring include fine Cashmere
shawls, Persian, Central Asian, Greek
and Turkish textiles. Chinese and
Japanese costume and hangings
feature strongly in distinct sale sections. The European sales include lace,
costume, textiles, fans, needlework,
quilts and samplers dating from the
16th to the 20th centuries. Collectors and
fashion aficionados make sure not to
miss our sales, which also include
vintage luggage by Louis Vuitton and
haute couture by the most famous
European designers from the 1920s
onwards.
London (UK)
Web: www.christies.com

The Impressionist & Modern Art
Department offers paintings, sculptures
and works on paper by the foremost
artists of the late 19th century and first
half of the 20th century. Artists included
are Cézanne, Giacometti, Matisse,
Monet, Picasso, van Gogh and all those
who forged artistic movements such as
Impressionism, Fauvism, Cubism and
Surrealism.
New York (USA)
Web: www.christies.com

Choose, mix and match European
furniture, Asian decorative arts, postwar and contemporary art, 20th century
decorative art, porcelain, rugs, silver,
glass, decorative paintings, drawings,
photographs and prints. Christie’s
monthly House Sale in the saleroom at
Rockefeller Center, New York is designed
to provide a one-stop shopping opportunity to dress up an empty space,
change the décor of a room, enhance an
existing collection or start a new one.
New York (USA)
Web: www.christies.com

Photography

Ends 03.06
Photo-London,
Int. Photography Fair

Photo-London 2007 will take place at
Old Billingsgate Market, the stunning
19th century hall in the heart of the City
of London. Designed by Sir Horace Jones
and renovated by Richard Rogers in
1988, the Thames-side venue will play
host to around 60 international galleries,
dealers and publishers. Photo-London
will focus on photography from the
1970s to the most contemporary work,
mixing a selection of photography
galleries and contemporary art galleries.
London (UK)
Web: www.photo-london.com

Fashion
20-24.06.
7 Festival

Festival for Fashion, Music and
Photography
Vienna (Austria)
Web: www.6festival.at

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10.04.2007 11:31:15 Uhr

29.06-03.07.
Paris Men’s Fashion Week

Designers present their Spring/Summer
2008 collections in the French capital.
Web: www.modeaparis.com

21.06.
Vienna University of Applied
Art Fashion Show

20-23.06.
Pitti Uomo

The old Fortezza di Basso plays host to
one of its biggest yearly fashion exhibitions dedicated to men’s fashion.
Florence (Italy)
Web: www.pittimmagine.com

08-09.06.
Show 07 – La Cambre mode(s)

One of the leading fashion schools in
Belgium presents its final year show.
The aim of the event is to provide a
platform where students can showcase
their talents in front of an audience of
fashion connoisseurs and industry
professionals.
Brussels (Belgium)
Web: www.lacambre.be

The prestigious University of Applied
Arts’ Design Department showcases
the fashion student’s final year show.
Vienna (Austria)
Web: www.modeklasse.at

29.06.-02.07.
Tranoi Fashion Fair-mens

A chance for designers to showcase
their men’s collections to the trade
at the Palais de la Bourse.
Paris (France)
Web: www.tranoi.com

Get a look at Brazil’s leading names in
the fashion arena and take the opportunity to engage in some networking.
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
Web: www.fashionrio.org.br

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A platform of exchange through
workshops and seminars for graphic
designers, design students and anyone
else in the field.
Lagehörste (Germany)
Web: www.tage-der-typografie.de

14-16.06.
Show 2007 Fashion Department
Hogeschool Antwerpen
The Fashion Department Royal Academy of Fine Arts Fashion Department’s
annual fashion show is a celebration
of fashion, bringing together some
6,000 spectators from all over the
world, not only to judge and/or admire
the collections of the students, but also
for the unique atmosphere of their
grand defilé. Once a year, the building is
filled with friends, fashion enthusiasts,
manufacturers, former students, fashion
designers, styling agencies, culture
buffs and the press. Their interest and
appreciation are the reward for the
continuous efforts of both students and
teachers, year after year. Students from
all four years show their work on the
catwalk. The jury composed by national
and international fashion and art
people, judge their collections and
installations.
Antwerp (Belgium)
Web: www.modenatie.com
www.antwerp-fashion.be

04-06.07.
Bread & Butter Barcelona

Tradeshow for selected brands: Pioneers
who revolutionized the traditional
tradeshow landscape thanks to a new
concept: No generalists, but specialists
with a clear definition of their segments, who are resolved to present
progressive, contemporary clothing
culture right through to the top. Visionaries, who recognize market needs and
put them into action. Courageous to
come up with unorthodox solutions.
Professing sensitivity and passion for
the culture in which they are at home.
Barcelona (Spain)
Web: www.breadandbutter.com

ITS stands for International Talent
Support and is a platform for creative
minds from all over the world. ITS the
way to support young talented people,
giving them the opportunity to voice
their creativity and to showcase it using
the medium they are more keen to or
doomed with. ITS a network, made of
students, teachers, business people,
opinion leaders, the international press.
They will come to free creativity from
its golden cage. A wide selection of
prizes will be awarded to support
talent and our contestants who will
be put to the test.
Trieste (Italy)
Web: www.itsweb.org

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10.04.2007 11:31:28 Uhr

Photography
02-07.07.
Voies Off Photography
Festival

As an experimental photographic
working area, the Arles Fringe Festival
promotes various artistic practices.
Each Fringe Festival allows a sharp look
on Photography’s new trends.
Every year, the Fringe Festival Prize
awards one photographer for his
contemporary artwork
Arles (France)
Web: www.voiesoff.com

The event includes a constant stream
of fashion ideas through the runway
shows and exhibitions. It’s a meeting
point for buyers as well as international
media. Seminars cover the latest predictions in fashion fundamentals from
styles and colours to fabrics, as well as
business-specific topics targeted at the
fashion industry.
Hong Kong (China)
Web: http://hkfashionweekss.tdctrade.
com/

August 2007
Fashion
09-12.08.
Copenhagen International
Fashion Fair

With more than 42,000 net square
meters of exhibition space filling
Bella Center’s halls, the numerous
permanent showrooms and the new
5,000-square-metre tent, CIFF has now
grown so large that we want to give
visitors a better overview.
Copenhagen (Denmark)
Web: www.ciff.dk

Information Design Conference
The International Institute for Information Design (IIID) is proud to announce
Vision Plus 12 at Schwarzenberg, a
multi-disciplinary international conference devoted to exploring one of the
most critical issues facing communicators today - how to measure the impact
of informational communications.
Schwarzenberg (Austria)
Web: http://www.iiid-visionplus.net

30.08-05.09.
Japan Fashion Week

Japan Fashion Week in TOKYO is an
event that brings together the government and the private sector to effectively transmit Japanese high quality,
delicate fabrics and fashion creations to
the world. On a single base combined of
three elements, Creation, Craftsmanship,
and Business, the aim is to strengthen
Japan’s textile and fashion industries
ability to compete internationally, as
well as strive to create a source for
vitality in a wide range of industries
related to lifestyle and culture.
Tokyo (Japan)
Web: wwwjfw.jp

15-21.08.
Oslo Fashion Week

Oslo (Norway)
Web: www.oslofashionweek.com

29-31.08.
Living Room
Tokyo Fashion Fair

International design fair for fashion and
accessories brands geared to penetrating the Japanese market.
Tokyo (Japan)
Web: www.livingroomtokyo.com

AIFW is steadily establishing itself as a
young and directional alternative to the
world’s more traditional fashion weeks.
Focusing on Amsterdam’s reputation as
an inspiring city, the AIFW program
combines commerce with creativity.
Alongside the catwalk show schedule
our program includes fashion events,
lectures, exhibitions, retail initiatives
and parties. As well as a showcase for
Dutch fashion, AIFW provides a stage
for the growing New Luxury segment,
which so far was stuck between existing mainstream trade events and
traditional couture weeks.
Amsterdam (The Netherlands)
Web: www.amsterdamfashionweek.com

The National Design Triennial is an
ongoing exhibition series at the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National
Design Museum. Inaugurated in 2000,
the Triennial seeks out innovative work
from across the fields of product design,
architecture, furniture, film, graphics,
new technologies, animation, science,
medicine and fashion. Called Design
Life Now Triennial presents experimental projects, emerging ideas, major
buildings, and new products and media
created by 87 designers and firms from
2003 to 2006. The exhibition features
work by designers of any nationality
who are producing work in the U.S. as
well as American-born designers who
are working abroad.
New York (USA)
Web: http://ndm.si.edu

27-30.08.
POOL Tradeshow

POOL began as a minimal rail trade
show designed for the directional
boutique market. POOL showcases
many emerging designers each season,
featuring new product ranging from
women’s and men’s apparel, to shoes
and accessories, and including a variety
of lifestyle products, from art, to music,
to home. POOL carefully curates each
show, balancing fresh talent with
established brands. Each line participating at POOL is pre-screened to allow
buyers more time to place orders.
Las Vegas (USA)
Web: www.pooltradeshow.com

September
2007
Fashion
06-09.09.
Who’s Next

Innovative fashion fair dedicated to
creative forms of promotion for
designers. Help foster a climate of
growth for brands by creating a unique
platform of exchange.
Paris (France)
Web: www.whosnext.com

London, one of the world’s most vibrant
and creative capitals, holds one of the
most important events in the fashion
industry. Expect a large attendance
of UK buyers, international press and
photographers and broadcast crews.
Check out who the newest designers
are to make a name for themselves
during one of the most vital fashion
events. Also check out Margin London
for Fresh Brands & On|Off.
London (UK)
Web: www.londonfashionweek.co.uk
www.margin.tv, www.thedoll.org/onoff

For the 10th session in September 2007,
the New Pudong Expo Centre will host
the expo and is very much like a contemporary Museum of Modern Art.
While this will be a new departure, it is
still linked to what already existed: it is
a change in the sense of an evolution.
This new site will gather all the exhibitors onto the same floor, in a sophisticated and modern setting. They have
chosen to illustrate the season’s trends
by applying the same evolving path
that the fair itself has followed to
material, colour and product developments. In the course of 5 themes you
shall see the birth, development,
affirmation, life and excellence of the
products through an explosion of
colours that matches the effervescence
of commerce and industry in China and
Asia in general.
Shanghai (China)
Web: www.spinexpo.com

27-30.09.
Touch Neozone Cloudnine

Touch! is the most up-to-date look
at contemporary women’s fashions.
NeoZone for contemporary chic and
the most sophisticated sportswear and
cloudnine with the most creative
accessories which can make fashion
trends on their own.
Milan (Italy)
Web: www.pittimmagine.com

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18-21.09.
Premiere Vision

The must fabric fair for trade and to get
a peak at what the new innovations are
in the realm of fabric production.
Paris (France)
Web: www.premierevision.fr

In one guise or another, religion currently pervades discussion. In a fire
fanned by fear of Islam, resorting to
religion has become acceptable in the
West too. Faith is back with a vengeance - as a source of certainty and
stability, a safe haven, a refuge with its
own norms and values, closely connected with the idea of a closed society
that is based on tradition and brotherhood. But what happens when this
faith comes in contact with the surrounding world, an open society that is
continually changing, based as it is on
dialogue among various opinions?
Ultimately the separation of church and
state is one of the basic principles of
Western society, and a globalized world,
with its free exchange of goods and
ideas, is a source of heresy. God and
Allah, the Vatican and Washington,
Holy Scriptures and law books, global
and local, love and resentment: The
Noorderlicht Photofestival 2007 investigates what happens when faith meets
the world around it, where the collisions of different value systems lead to
friction. Act of Faith is an international
group exhibition that will be accompanied by a special catalogue. Act of Faith
is the main exhibition of the festival.
Previous main exhibitions have drawn
enthusiastic responses and are now
touring all over the world.
Groningen (The Netherlands)
Web: www.noorderlicht.com

13-14.09.
EPDE07
International Conference
on Engineering and
Product Design

Shaping the Future? The 9th International Conference on Engineering and
Product Design Education will be organised by the School of Design at North­
umbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne
in participation with the Design Education Special Interest Group (DESIGN)
of the Design Society, the Institution of
Engineering Designers (IED), in collaboration with the British-HCI Group, and
endorsed by the Design Research
Society (DRS).
New Castle upon Tyne (UK)
Web: http://www.cfdr.co.uk/epde07/

Art
15.09-4.11.
International Istanbul
Biennial

The biennial will focus on urban issues
and architectural reality as a means of
exposing different cultural contexts and
artistic visions regarding the complex
and diverse forms of modernity. Therefore, instead of imposing any definite
concept on the event via fixed exhibition format, they decided to open up
the Biennial as a platform of imagination, dialogue and production.
Istanbul (Turkey)
Web: www.iksv.org/bienal/english

PFW is an international festival of
fashion designers. PFW is offering the
presentation to the Czech and foreign
designers in the way of catwalk shows.
The expert authority of the PFW Fashion Academy – awards to one of
the participating designers the prestigious title Designer of the Season.
The Organizer announces also the
special contest categories to support
the starting and up-coming designers:
Junior and Talent of the Season.
The exhibition Fashion Photo is accompanying the program. After-Sale open
for public is being organized after the
official program.
Prague (Czech Republic)
Web: www.praguefashionweek.com

The concept of Fashion Week in
Moscow is based on the organization
of Fashion Weeks in Paris, New York,
London, and Milan. Fashion Week is
organized to support multiple daily
runway shows from various designers,
traditionally attracting a lot of journalists. Several designers present their new
collections at the same time in different
exhibition showrooms. Through this
style of presentation, Fashion Week also
attracts hundreds of buyers and representatives from industrial companies,
including producers of fabrics, trimmings, accessories and prêt-a-porter
clothing. As a result, Fashion Week has
become a place for business meetings
and the signing of numerous contracts.
Moscow (Russia)
Web: www.rfw.ru
www.fashionweekinmoscow.com

04-07.10.
Tranoi Fashion Fair-womens

A chance for designers to showcase
their women’s collections to the trade
at the Palais de la Bourse.
Paris (France)
Web: www.tranoi.com

Art

18-22.10.
FIAC – Foire Internationale
d’Art Contemporain

Annual Contemporary art fair held in
Paris. This year it will be held at the
Grand Palais and in the Court Carrée of
the Louvre. It is an important gathering
for those who want to collect and see
contemporary art.
Paris (France)
Web: www.fiacparis.com

November
2007
Photography
15-18.11.
Paris Photo

This 11th edition of the leading fair is
characterized by the demanding nature
of each of the exhibition projects.
Created specifically for the event, the
projects highlight works or groups of
works that are rare, exceptional or new.
Through the numerous countries represented from around the world, Paris
Photo is undertaking to support and
promote the very best photography.
This year Italy occupies a special place
at the fair.
Paris (France)
Web: www.parisphoto.fr

Graphic/Typo

11-14.10.
Frieze Art Fair,
Contemporary Art Fair

09-12.10.
Semaine de la Mode de MontrealMontreal Fashion Week

The mission of Montreal Fashion Week
is to promote designers to the fashion
industry, buyers and journalists. From
its very launch, the event has allowed
the fashion press and buyers to discover
emerging labels. Sensation Mode seeks
to position Montreal as a fashion hub
on both the national and international
scenes. To do this, it showcases the
know-how, creativity and diverse
commercial offering of the city, increasing visibility by coordinating initiatives
and targeting a common goal.
Montreal (Canada)
Web: www.mfw.ca

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The Frieze Art Fair takes place every
October in Regent’s Park, London. It
features over 150 of the most exciting
contemporary art galleries in the world.
As well as these exhibitors, the fair
includes specially commissioned artists’
projects and a prestigious talks programme
London (UK)
Web: www.friezeartfair.com

12-17.10.
40 Years of Paul Mccarthy’s
Work

S.M.A.K. is presenting the first retrospective exhibition to span the whole
40 years of McCarthy’s work. Head
Shop/Shop Head situates a number of
the more recent works in the broader
context of McCarthy’s oeuvre, thereby
creating a wider and deeper view of this
complex and challenging artist.
Ghent (Belgium)
Web: www.smak.be

29.11.
IMCA – International Museum
Communication Awards

The purpose of the IMCA is to recognize
and stimulate imagination and best
practices in communication and design
in European museums. IMCA wants to
raise the standards of creative excellence in the museum industry, and
encourage art organizations to find
original and inventive ways to communicate their positioning and their
values. It is a great opportunity to
increase awareness of museums’ efforts
in communication on a local and
international level. The awards are open
to all museums and galleries in Europe.
Brussels (Belgium)
Web: www.imca-awards.com

Fashion
25-27.11.
Moda Prima

Fashion and accessories shows,
gathering international exhibitors.
Fashion Cube is an area dedicated
to future trends.
Milan (Italy)
Web: www.pittimmagine.com

December
2007
Art

06-09.12.
Art Basel-Miami Beach

The international art show in Miami
Beach (Florida) is the American sister
event of Art Basel in Switzerland,
the most important annual art show
worldwide for the past 37 years.
Art Basel Miami Beach is a new type of
cultural event, combining an international art show with an exciting program of special exhibitions, parties and
crossover events including music, film,
architecture and design. Exhibition sites
are located in the city’s beautiful Art
Deco District, within walking distance
of the beach and most hotels and
restaurants. An exclusive selection of
200 leading art galleries from North
America, Latin America, Europe, Africa
and Asia will exhibit 20th and 21st century art works by over 1500 artists.
The exhibiting galleries are among the
world’s most respected art dealers.
They will be showing exceptional works
by both renowned established artists
and cutting-edge newcomers. Special
exhibitions will feature young galleries
and video art. The show will be a vital
source for discovering new developments in contemporary art and rare
museum-calibre art works. Art collectors, artists, dealers, curators, critics and
art enthusiasts from around the world
will participate in the event.
Miami (USA)
Web: www.artbaselmiamibeach.com

This project is labelled "Luxembourg and Greater Region, European Capital of Culture 2007", placed under the High Patronage of their Royal Highnesses the Grand Duke and the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg.

We Love Magazines
“Luxembourg and Greater Region, European
Capital of Culture 2007” held “Colophon
2007 – International Magazine Symposium”
earlier this year. Over 2,000 professionals from
25 countries (Europe, Australia, South-Africa
and America) attended the three day event
curated by Jeremy Leslie, Andrew Losowsky
and Mike Koedinger (the publisher of Nico).
The Casino Luxembourg – Forum d’art
contemporain hosted five exhibitions
dedicated to magazine culture on three
floors, 25 hours of talks and 4 workshops.
Photography by Eric Chenal